THE-VALLEY-OF-VISION

LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,
Thou hast brought us to the valley of vision,
where we live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin we behold thy glory.
Let us learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let us find thy light in our darkness,
thy life in our death,
thy joy in our sorrow,
thy grace in our sin,
thy riches in our poverty
thy glory in our valley.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
THE TRINITY
THREE IN ONE, ONE IN THREE, GOD OF our SALVATION,
Heavenly Father, blessed Son, eternal Spirit,
we adore thee as one Being, one Essence,
one God in three distinct Persons,
for bringing sinners to thy knowledge and to thy kingdom.
O Father, thou hast loved us and sent Jesus to redeem us;
O Jesus, thou hast loved us and assumed our nature,
shed thine own blood to wash away our sins,
wrought righteousness to cover our unworthiness;
O Holy Spirit, thou hast loved us and entered our heart,
implanted there eternal life,
revealed to us the glories of Jesus.
Three Persons and one God, we bless and praise thee,
for love so unmerited, so unspeakable, so wondrous,
so mighty to save the lost and raise them to glory.
O Father, we thank thee that in fullness of grace
thou hast given us to Jesus,
to be his sheep, jewel, portion;
O Jesus, we thank thee that in fullness of grace
thou hast accepted, espoused, bound us;
O Holy Spirit, we thank thee that in fullness of grace
thou hast exhibited Jesus as our salvation,
implanted faith within us,
subdued our stubborn heart,
made us one with him for ever.
O Father, thou art enthroned to hear our prayers,
O Jesus, thy hand is outstretched to take our petitions,
O Holy Spirit, thou art willing to help our infirmities,
to show us our need, to supply words, to pray within us,
to strengthen us that we faint not in supplication.
O Triune God, who commandeth the universe,
thou hast commanded us to ask for those things
that concern thy kingdom and our soul.
Let us live and pray as one baptized into the threefold Name.

GOD THE ALL
O GOD WHOSE WILL CONQUERS ALL,
There is no comfort in anything
apart from enjoying thee
and being engaged in thy service;
Thou art All in all, and all enjoyments are what to us
thou makest them, and no more.
we are well pleased with thy will, whatever it is,
or should be in all respects,
And if thou bidst us decide for ourself in any affair,
we would choose to refer all to thee,
for thou art infinitely wise and cannot do amiss
as we are in danger of doing.
we rejoice to think that all things are at thy disposal,
and it delights us to leave them there.
Then prayer turns wholly into praise,
and all we can do is to adore and bless thee.
What shall we give thee for all thy benefits?
we are in a strait betwixt two, knowing not what to do;
we long to make some return, but have nothing to offer,
and can only rejoice that thou doest all,
that none in heaven or on earth shares thy honour;
we can of ourself do nothing to glorify thy blessed name,
but we can through grace cheerfully surrender soul and body to thee,
we know that thou art the author and finisher of faith,
that the whole work of redemption is thine alone,
that every good work or thought found in us
is the effect of thy power and grace,
that thy sole motive in working in us to will and to do
is for thy good pleasure.
O God, it is amazing that men can talk so much
about man?s creaturely power and goodness,
when, if thou didst not hold us back every moment,
we should be devils incarnate.
This, by bitter experience, thou hast taught us concerning ourself.


GOD THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD
O LORD GOD, WHO INHABITEST ETERNITY,
The heavens declare thy glory,
The earth thy riches,
The universe is thy temple;
Thy presence fills immensity,
Yet thou hast of thy pleasure created life, and communicated happiness;
Thou hast made us what we are, and given us what we have;
In thee we live and move and have our being;
Thy providence has set the bounds of our habitation,
and wisely administers all our affairs.
we thank thee for thy riches to us in Jesus,
for the unclouded revelation of him in thy Word,
where we behold his Person, character, grace, glory,
humiliation, sufferings, death, and resurrection;
Give us to feel a need of his continual saviourhood,
and cry with Job, ?we are vile?,
with Peter, ?we perish?,
with the publican, ?Be merciful to us, a sinner?.
Subdue in us the love of sin,
Let us know the need of renovation as well as of forgiveness,
in order to serve and enjoy thee for ever.
we come to thee in the all-prevailing name of Jesus,
with nothing of our own to plead,
no works, no worthiness, no promises.
we are often straying,
often knowingly opposing thy authority,
often abusing thy goodness;
Much of our guilt arises from our religious privileges,
my low estimation of them,
my failure to use them to our advantage,
But we are not careless of thy favour or regardless of thy glory;
Impress us deeply with a sense of thine omnipresence,
that thou art about our path, our ways, our lying down, our end.


THE GREAT GOD
O FOUNTAIN OF ALL GOOD,
Destroy in us every lofty thought,
Break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds,
Annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness,
Implant in us true lowliness of spirit,
Abase us to self-loathing and self-abhorrence,
Open in us a fount of penitential tears,
Break us, then bind us up;
Thus will our heart be a prepared dwelling for our God;
Then can the Father take up his abode in us,
Then can the blessed Jesus come with healing in his touch,
Then can the Holy Spirit descend in sanctifying grace;
O Holy Trinity, three Persons and one God,
inhabit us, a temple consecrated to thy glory.
When thou art present, evil cannot abide;
In thy fellowship is fullness of joy,
Beneath thy smile is peace of conscience,
By thy side no fears disturb,
no apprehensions banish rest of mind,
With thee our heart shall bloom with fragrance;
Make us meet, through repentance, for thine indwelling.
Nothing exceeds thy power,
Nothing is too great for thee to do,
Nothing too good for thee to give.
Infinite is thy might, boundless thy love,
limitless thy grace, glorious thy saving name.
Let angels sing for sinners repenting, prodigals restored,
backsliders reclaimed, Satan?s captives released,
blind eyes opened, broken hearts bound up,
the despondent cheered, the self-righteous stripped,
the formalist driven from a refuge of lies,
the ignorant enlightened,
and saints built up in their holy faith.
we ask great things of a great God.


THE ALL-GOOD
MY GOD,
Thou hast helped us to see,
that whatever good be in honour and rejoicing,
how good is he who gives them, and can withdraw them;
that blessedness does not lie so much
in receiving good from and in thee, but
in holding forth thy glory and virtue;
that it is an amazing thing
to see Deity in a creature, speaking, acting, filling, shining through it;
that nothing is good but thee,
that we are near good when we are near thee,
that to be like thee is a glorious thing:
This is our magnet, our attraction.
Thou art all our good in times of peace,
my only support in days of trouble,
my one sufficiency when life shall end.
Help us to see how good thy will is in all,
and even when it crosses mine
teach us to be pleased with it.
Grant us to feel thee in fire, and food and every providence,
and to see that thy many gifts and creatures
are but thy hands and fingers taking hold of us.
Thou bottomless fountain of all good,
we give ourself to thee out of love,
for all we have or own is thine,
my goods, family, church, self,
to do with as thou wilt,
to honour thyself by us, and by all mine.
If it be consistent with thy eternal counsels,
the purpose of thy grace,
and the great ends of thy glory,
then bestow upon us the blessings of thy comforts;
If not, let us resign ourself to thy wiser determinations.


THE MOVER
O SUPREME MOVING CAUSE,
May we always be subordinate to thee,
be dependent upon thee,
be found in the path where thou dost walk,
and where thy Spirit moves,
take heed of estrangement from thee,
of becoming insensible to thy love.
Thou dost not move men like stones,
but dost endue them with life,
not to enable them to move without thee,
but in submission to thee, the first mover.
O Lord, we are astonished at the difference
between our receivings and our deservings,
between the state we are now in and our past gracelessness,
between the heaven we are bound for and the hell we merit.
Who made us to differ, but thee?
for we was no more ready to receive Christ than were others;
we could not have begun to love thee hadst thou not first loved us,
or been willing unless thou hadst first made us so.
O that such a crown should fit the head of such a sinner!
such high advancement be for an unfruitful person!
such joys for so vile a rebel!
Infinite wisdom cast the design of salvation
into the mould of purchase and freedom;
Let wrath deserved be written on the door of hell,
But the free gift of grace on the gate of heaven.
we know that our sufferings are the result of our sinning,
but in heaven both shall cease;
Grant us to attain this haven and be done with sailing,
and may the gales of thy mercy blow us safely into harbour.
Let thy love draw us nearer to thyself,
wean us from sin, mortify us to this world,
and make us ready for our departure hence.
Secure us by thy grace as we sail across this stormy sea.


THE DIVINE WILL
O LORD,
we hang on thee; we see, believe, live,
when thy will, not mine, is done;
we can plead nothing in ourself
in regard of any worthiness and grace,
in regard of thy providence and promises,
but only thy good pleasure.
If thy mercy make us poor and vile, blessed be thou!

Prayers arising from our needs are preparations for future mercies;
Help us to honour thee by believing before we feel,
for great is the sin if we make feeling a cause of faith.

Show us what sins hide thee from us
and eclipse thy love;
Help us to humble ourself for past evils,
to be resolved to walk with more care,
For if we do not walk holily before thee,
how can we be assured of our salvation?
It is the meek and humble who are shown thy covenant,
know thy will, are pardoned and healed,
who by faith depend and rest upon grace,
who are sanctified and quickened,
who evidence thy love.
Help us to pray in faith and so find thy will,
by leaning hard on thy rich free mercy,
by believing thou wilt give what thou hast promised;
Strengthen us to pray with the conviction
that whatever we receive is thy gift,
so that we may pray until prayer be granted;
Teach us to believe that all degrees of mercy arise
from several degrees of prayer,
that when faith is begun it is imperfect and must grow,
as chapped ground opens wider and wider until rain comes.
So shall we wait thy will, pray for it to be done,
and by thy grace become fully obedient.


DIVINE MERCIES
THOU ETERNAL GOD,
Thine is surpassing greatness, unspeakable goodness,
super-abundant grace;
we can as soon count the sands of ocean?s ?lip? as number thy favours
towards us;
we know but a part, but that part exceeds all praise.
we thank thee for personal mercies,
a measure of health, preservation of body,
comforts of house and home, sufficiency of food and clothing,
continuance of mental powers,
my family, their mutual help and support,
the delights of domestic harmony and peace,
the seats now filled that might have been vacant,
my country, church, Bible, faith.
But, O, how we mourn our sin, ingratitude, vileness,
the days that add to our guilt,
the scenes that witness our offending tongue;
All things in heaven, earth, around, within, without, condemn us?
the sun which sees our misdeeds,
the darkness which is light to thee,
the cruel accuser who justly charges us,
the good angels who have been provoked to leave us,
thy countenance which scans our secret sins,
thy righteous law, thy holy Word,
my sin-soiled conscience, our private and public life,
my neighbours, ourself?
all write dark things against us.
we deny them not, frame no excuse, but confess, ?Father, we have sinned?;
Yet still we live, and fly repenting to thy oustretched arms;
thou wilt not cast us off, for Jesus brings us near,
thou wilt not condemn us, for he died in our stead,
thou wilt not mark our mountains of sin, for he levelled all,
and his beauty covers our deformities.
O our God, we bid farewell to sin by clinging to his cross,
hiding in his wounds, and sheltering in his side.


GOD ENJOYED
THOU INCOMPREHENSIBLE BUT PRAYER-HEARING GOD,
Known, but beyond knowledge,
revealed, but unrevealed,
my wants and welfare draw us to thee,
for thou hast never said, ?Seek ye us in vain?.
To thee we come in our difficulties, necessities, distresses;
possess us with thyself,
with a spirit of grace and supplication,
with a prayerful attitude of mind,
with access into warmth of fellowship,
so that in the ordinary concerns of life
my thoughts and desires may rise to thee,
and in habitual devotion we may find a resource that will
soothe our sorrows, sanctify our successes,
and qualify us in all ways for dealings with our fellow men.

we bless thee that thou hast made us capable
of knowing thee, the author of all being,
of resembling thee, the perfection of all excellency,
of enjoying thee, the source of all happiness.

O God, attend us in every part of our arduous and trying pilgrimage;
we need the same counsel, defence, comfort we found at our beginning.
Let our religion be more obvious to our conscience,
more perceptible to those around.

While Jesus is representing us in heaven, may we reflect him on earth,
While he pleads our cause, may we show forth his praise.
Continue the gentleness of thy goodness towards us,
And whether we wake or sleep, let thy presence go with us,
thy blessing attend us.

Thou hast led us on and we have found thy promises true,
we have been sorrowful, but thou hast been our help,
fearful, but thou hast delivered us,
despairing, but thou hast lifted us up.
Thy vows are ever upon us,
And we praise thee, O God.


A PRESENT SALVATION
CREATOR AND REDEEMER GOD,
Author of all existence, source of all blessedness,
we adore thee for making us capable of knowing thee,
for giving us reason and conscience,
for leading us to desire thee;
we praise thee for the revelation of thyself in the gospel,
for thy heart as a dwelling place of pity,
for thy thoughts of peace towards us,
for thy patience and thy graciousness,
for the vastness of thy mercy.
Thou hast moved our conscience to know how
the guilty can be pardoned,
the unholy sanctified,
the poor enriched.
May we be always amongst those who not only hear but know thee,
who walk with and rejoice in thee,
who take thee at thy word and find life there.
Keep us always longing
for a present salvation in Holy Spirit comforts and rejoicings,
for spiritual graces and blessings,
for help to value our duties as well as our privileges.
May we cherish simplicity and godly sincerity of character.
Help us to be in reality before thee as in appearance we are before men,
to be religious before we profess religion,
to leave the world before we enter the church,
to set our affections on things above,
to shun forbidden follies and vanities,
to be a dispenser as well as a partaker of grace,
to be prepared to bear evil as well as to do good.
O God, make us worthy of this calling,
that the name of Jesus may be glorified in us and we in him.


MAN?S GREAT END
LORD OF ALL BEING,
There is one thing that deserves our greatest care,
that calls forth our ardent desires,
That is, that we may answer the great end for which we are made?
to glorify thee who hast given us being,
and to do all the good we can for our fellow men;
Verily, life is not worth having
if it be not improved for this noble purpose.
Yet, Lord, how little is this the thought of mankind!
Most men seem to live for themselves,
without much or any regard for thy glory,
or for the good of others;
They earnestly desire and eagerly pursue
the riches, honours, pleasures of this life,
as if they supposed that wealth, greatness, merriment,
could make their immortal souls happy;
But, alas, what false delusive dreams are these!
And how miserable ere long will those be that sleep in them,
for all our happiness consists in loving thee,
and being holy as thou art holy.
O may we never fall into the tempers and vanities,
the sensuality and folly of the present world!
It is a place of inexpressible sorrow, a vast empty nothingness;
Time is a moment, a vapour,
and all its enjoyments are empty bubbles,
fleeting blasts of wind,
from which nothing satisfactory can be derived;
Give us grace always to keep in covenant with thee,
and to reject as delusion a great name here or hereafter,
together with all sinful pleasures or profits.
Help us to know continually
that there can be no true happiness,
no fulfilling of thy purpose for us,
apart from a life lived in and for the Son of thy love.

GOD HONOURED
O GOD,
Praise waiteth for thee,
and to render it is our noblest exercise;
This is thy due from all thy creatures,
for all thy works display thy attributes and fulfil thy designs;
The sea, dry land, winter cold, summer heat,
morning light, evening shade are full of thee,
and thou givest us them richly to enjoy.
Thou art King of kings and Lord of lords;
At thy pleasure empires rise and fall;
All thy works praise thee and thy saints bless thee;
Let us be numbered with thy holy ones,
resemble them in character and condition,
sit with them at Jesus? feet.

May our religion be always firmly rooted in thy Word,
my understanding divinely informed,
my affections holy and heavenly,
my motives simple and pure,
and our heart never wrong with thee.

Deliver us from the natural darkness of our own mind,
from the corruptions of our heart,
from the temptations to which we are exposed,
from the daily snares that attend us.

we are in constant danger while we are in this life;
Let thy watchful eye ever be upon us for our defence,
Save us from the power of our worldly and spiritual enemies
and from all painful evils to which we have exposed ourself.

Until the day of life dawns above
let there be unrestrained fellowship with Jesus;
Until fruition comes, may we enjoy the earnest of our inheritance
and the firstfruits of the Spirit;
Until we finish our course with joy may we pursue it with diligence,
in every part display the resources of the Christian,
and adorn the doctrine of thee our God in all things.

****
PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
O our GOD,
Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admires, adores, loves thee,
for our little vessel is as full as it can be,
and we would pour out all that fullness before thee in ceaseless flow.
When we think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over our heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.
we bless thee for the soul thou hast created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it,
though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou hast given us,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing senses to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of our limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;
for thy royal bounty providing our daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for our fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for our own expectation of seeing thee clearly.
we love thee above the powers of language to express,
for what thou art to thy creatures.
Increase our love, O our God, through time and eternity.

****
THE GIFT OF GIFTS
O SOURCE OF ALL GOOD,
What shall we render to thee for the gift of gifts,
thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart?s grasp.

Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise us above,
was born like us that we might become like him.

Herein is love;
when we cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace,
to raise us to himself.
Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
when we was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate, to save us to the uttermost,
as man to die our death,
to shed satisfying blood on our behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take us in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
and enlarge our mind;
let us hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place us with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon our Redeemer?s face,
and in him account ourself delivered from sin;
let us with Simeon clasp the new-born child to our heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and we are his.
In him thou hast given us so much that heaven can give no more.

****
CHRIST THE WORD
MY FATHER,
In a world of created changeable things,
Christ and his Word alone remain unshaken.
O to forsake all creatures,
to rest as a stone on him the foundation,
to abide in him, be borne up by him!
For all our mercies come through Christ,
who has designed, purchased, promised, effected them.
How sweet it is to be near him, the Lamb,
filled with holy affections!
When we sin against thee we cross thy will, love, life,
and have no comforter, no creature, to go to.
Our sin is not so much this or that particular evil,
but our continual separation, disunion, distance from thee,
and having a loose spirit towards thee.
But thou hast given us a present, Jesus thy Son,
as Mediator between thyself and our soul,
as middle-man who in a pit
holds both him below and him above,
for only he can span the chasm breached by sin,
and satisfy divine justice.
May we always lay hold upon this Mediator,
as a realized object of faith,
and alone worthy by his love to bridge the gulf.
Let us know that he is dear to us by his Word;
we are one with him by the Word on his part,
and by faith on mine;
If we oppose the Word we oppose our Lord when he is most near;
If we receive the Word we receive our Lord wherein he is nigh.
O thou who hast the hearts of all men in thine hand,
form our heart according to the Word,
according to the image of thy Son,
So shall Christ the Word, and his Word, be our strength and comfort.

****
CHRIST IS ALL
O LOVER TO THE UTTERMOST,
May we read the meltings of thy heart to us
in the manger of thy birth
in the garden of thy agony,
in the cross of thy suffering,
in the tomb of thy resurrection,
in the heaven of thy intercession.
Bold in this thought we defy our adversary,
tread down his temptations,
resist his schemings,
renounce the world,
am valiant for truth.
Deepen in us a sense of our holy relationship to thee,
as spiritual Bridegroom,
as Jehovah?s Fellow,
as sinners? Friend.
we think of thy glory and our vileness,
thy majesty and our meanness,
thy beauty and our deformity,
thy purity and our filth,
thy righteousness and our iniquity.
Thou hast loved us everlastingly, unchangeably,
may we love thee as we are loved;
Thou hast given thyself for us,
may we give ourself to thee;
Thou hast died for us,
may we live to thee,
in every moment of our time,
in every movement of our mind,
in every pulse of our heart.
May we never dally with the world and its allurements,
but walk by thy side,
listen to thy voice,
be clothed with thy graces,
and adorned with thy righteousness.

****
FULLNESS IN CHRIST
O GOD,
Thou hast taught us
that Christ has all fullness and so all plenitude of the Spirit,
that all fullness we lack in ourself is in him,
for his people, not for himself alone,
he having perfect knowledge, grace, righteousness,
to make us see,
to make us righteous,
to give us fullness;
that it is our duty, out of a sense of emptiness,
to go to Christ, possess, enjoy his fullness as mine,
as if we had it in ourself, because it is for us in him;
that when we do this we are full of the Spirit,
as a fish that has got from the shore to the sea
and has all fullness of waters to move in,
for when faith fills us, then we are full;
that this is the way to be filled with the Spirit,
like Stephen, first faith, then fullness,
for this way makes us most empty,
and so most fit for the Spirit to fill.
Thou hast taught us that
the finding of this treasure of all grace in the field of Christ
begets strength, joy, glory,
and renders all graces alive.
Help us to delight more in what we receive from Christ,
more in that fullness which is in him,
the fountain of all his glory.
Let us not think to receive the Spirit from him as a ?thing?
apart from finding, drinking, being filled with him.
To this end, O God,
do thou establish us in Christ,
settle us, give us a being there,
assure us with certainty that all this is mine,
for this only will fill our heart with joy and peace.

****
UNION WITH CHRIST
O FATHER,
Thou hast made man for the glory of thyself,
and when not an instrument of that glory,
he is a thing of nought;
No sin is greater than the sin of unbelief,
for if union with Christ is the greatest good,
unbelief is the greatest sin,
as being cross to thy command;
we see that whatever our sin is,
yet no sin is like disunion from Christ by unbelief.
Lord, keep us from committing the greatest sin in departing from him,
for we can never in this life perfectly obey and cleave to Christ.
When thou takest away our outward blessings, it is for sin,
in not acknowledging that all that we have is of thee,
in not serving thee through what we have,
in making ourself secure and hardened.
Lawful blessings are the secret idols, and do most hurt;
the greatest injury is in the having,
the greatest good in the taking away.

In love divest us of blessings that we may glorify thee the more;
remove the fuel of our sin,
and may we prize the gain of a little holiness
as overbalancing all our losses.
The more we love thee with a truly gracious love
the more we desire to love thee,
and the more miserable we are at our want of love;
The more we hunger and thirst after thee,
the more we faint and fail in finding thee,
The more our heart is broken for sin,
the more we pray it may be far more broken.

Our great evil is that we do not remember the sins of our youth,
nay, the sins of one day we forget the next.
Keep us from all things that turn to unbelief
or lack of felt union with Christ.


THE NAME OF JESUS
ALL-SEARCHING GOD,
Thou readest the heart,
viewest principles and motives of actions,
seest more defilement in our duties
than we ever saw in any of our sins.
The heavens are not clean in thy sight,
and thou chargest the angels with folly;
we are ready to flee from ourself because of our abominations;
Yet thou dost not abhor us
but hast devised means for our return to thee,
and that, by thy Son who died to give us life.
Thine honour is secured and displayed even in our escape from thy threats,
and that, by means of Jesus
in whom mercy and truth meet together,
and righteousness and peace kiss each other.
In him the enslaved find redemption,
the guilty pardon,
the unholy renovation;
In him are everlasting strength for the weak,
unsearchable riches for the needy,
treasures of wisdom and knowledge for the ignorant,
fullness for the empty.

At thy gracious call we hear, take, come, apply, receive his grace,
not only submit to his mercy but acquiesce in it,
not only glory in the cross but in him crucified and slain,
not only joy in forgiveness but in the one through whom
atonement comes.

Thy blessings are as secure as they are glorious;
Thou hast provided for our safety and our prosperity,
and hast promised that we shall stand firm and grow stronger.

O Lord God, without the pardon of our sin we cannot rest satisfied
without the renovation of our nature by grace we can never rest easy,
without the hopes of heaven we can never be at peace.
All this we have in thy Son Jesus; blessed be his name.


CHRIST ALONE
O GOD,
Thy main plan, and the end of thy will
is to make Christ glorious and beloved in heaven
where he is now ascended,
where one day all the elect will behold his glory
and love and glorify him for ever.
Though here we love him but little,
may this be our portion at last.
In this world thou hast given us a beginning,
one day it will be perfected in the realm above.
Thou hast helped us to see and know Christ, though obscurely,
to take him, receive him,
to possess him, love him,
to bless him in our heart, mouth, life.
Let us study and stand for discipline,
and all the ways of worship,
out of love for Christ;
and to show our thankfulness;
to seek and know his will from love,
to hold it in love,
and daily to care for and keep this state of heart.
Thou hast led us to place all our nature and happiness
in oneness with Christ,
in having heart and mind centred only on him,
in being like him in communicating good to others;
This is our heaven on earth,
But we need the force, energy, impulses of thy Spirit
to carry us on the way to our Jerusalem.
Here, it is our duty
to be as Christ in this world,
to do what he would do,
to live as he would live,
to walk in love and meekness;
then would he be known,
then would we have peace in death.
JESUS our GLORY
O LORD GOD,
Thou hast commanded us to believe in Jesus;
and we would flee to no other refuge,
wash in no other fountain,
build on no other foundation,
receive from no other fullness,
rest in no other relief.
His water and blood were not severed in their flow at the cross,
may they never be separated in our creed and experiences;
May we be equally convinced of the guilt and pollution of sin,
feel our need of a prince and saviour,
implore of him repentance as well as forgiveness,
love holiness, and be pure in heart,
have the mind of Jesus, and tread in his steps.
Let us not be at our own disposal,
but rejoice that we are under the care of one
who is too wise to err,
too kind to injure,
too tender to crush.
May we scandalize none by our temper and conduct, but
recommend and endear Christ to all around,
bestow good on every one as circumstances permit,
and decline no opportunity of usefulness.
Grant that we may value our substance,
not as the medium of pride and luxury,
but as the means of our support and stewardship.
Help us to guide our affections with discretion,
to owe no man anything,
to be able to give to him that needeth,
to feel it our duty and pleasure to be merciful and forgiving,
to show to the world the likeness of Jesus.
THE LOVE OF JESUS
O FATHER OF JESUS,
Help us to approach thee with deepest reverence,
not with presumption,
not with servile fear, but with holy boldness.
Thou art beyond the grasp of our understanding,
but not beyond that of our love.
Thou knowest that we love thee supremely,
for thou art supremely adorable, good, perfect.
Our heart melts at the love of Jesus,
my brother, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
married to us, dead for us, risen for us;
He is mine and we are his,
given to us as well as for us;
we are never so much mine as when we are his,
or so much lost to ourself until lost in him;
then we find our true manhood.
But our love is frost and cold, ice and snow;
Let his love warm us,
lighten our burden,
be our heaven;
May it be more revealed to us in all its influences
that our love to him may be more fervent and glowing;
Let the mighty tide of his everlasting love
cover the rocks of our sin and care;
Then let our spirit float above those things
which had else wrecked our life.
Make us fruitful by living to that love,
my character becoming more beautiful every day.
If traces of Christ?s love-artistry be upon us,
may he work on with his divine brush
until the complete image be obtained
and we be made a perfect copy of him, our Master.
O Lord Jesus, come to us,
O Divine Spirit, rest upon us,
O Holy Father, look on us in mercy for the sake of the well-beloved.
LOVE TO JESUS
LORD JESUS,
If we love thee our soul shall seek thee,
but can we seek thee unless our love to thee is kept alive to this end?
Do we love thee because thou art good,
and canst alone do us good?
It is fitting thou shouldest not regard us,
for we are vile and selfish;
yet we seek thee,
and when we find thee there is no wrath to devour us,
but only sweet love.
Thou dost stand as a rock between the scorching sun and our soul,
and we live under the cool lee-side as one elect.
When our mind acts without thee
it spins nothing but deceit and delusion;
When our affections act without thee
nothing is seen but dead works.
O how we need thee to abide in us,
for we have no natural eyes to see thee,
but we live by faith in one whose face to us
is brighter than a thousand suns!
When we see that all sin is in us, all shame belongs to us;
let us know that all good is in thee, all glory is thine.
Keep us from the error of thinking thou dost appear gloriously
when some strange light fills our heart,
as if that were the glorious activity of grace,
but let us see that the truest revelation of thyself
is when thou dost eclipse all our personal glory
and all the honour, pleasure and good of this world.
The Son breaks out in glory
when he shows himself as one who outshines all creation,
makes men poor in spirit,
and helps them to find their good in him.
Grant that we may distrust ourself, to see our all in thee.
THE SECOND COMING
O SON OF GOD AND SON OF MAN,
Thou wast incarnate, didst suffer, rise, ascend for our sake;
Thy departure was not a token of separation but a pledge of return;
Thy Word, promises, sacraments, show thy death until thou come again.
That day is no horror to us,
for thy death has redeemed us,
thy Spirit fills us,
thy love animates us,
thy Word governs us.
we have trusted thee and thou hast not betrayed our trust;
waited for thee, and not waited in vain.
Thou wilt come to raise our body from the dust, and re-unite it to our soul,
by a wonderful work of infinite power and love,
greater than that which bounds the oceans? waters,
ebbs and flows the tides,
keeps the stars in their courses,
and gives life to all creatures.
This corruptible shall put on incorruption,
this mortal, immortality,
this natural body, a spiritual body,
this dishonoured body, a glorious body,
this weak body, a body of power.
we triumph now in thy promises as we shall do in their performance,
for the head cannot live if the members are dead;
Beyond the grave is resurrection, judgment, acquittal, dominion.
Every event and circumstance of our life will be dealt with?
the sins of our youth, our secret sins,
the sins of abusing thee, of disobeying thy Word,
the sins of neglecting ministers? admonitions,
the sins of violating our conscience?
all will be judged;
And after judgment, peace and rest, life and service,
employment and enjoyment, for thine elect.
O God, keep us in this faith, and ever looking for Christ?s return.
SPIRITUS SANCTUS
O HOLY SPIRIT,
As the sun is full of light,
the ocean full of water,
Heaven full of glory,
so may our heart be full of thee.
Vain are all divine purposes of love
and the redemption wrought by Jesus
except thou work within,
regenerating by thy power,
giving us eyes to see Jesus,
showing us the realities of the unseen world.
Give us thyself without measure,
as an unimpaired fountain,
as inexhaustible riches.
we bewail our coldness, poverty, emptiness,
imperfect vision, languid service,
prayerless prayers, praiseless praises.
Suffer us not to grieve or resist thee.
Come as power,
to expel every rebel lust, to reign supreme and keep us thine;
Come as teacher,
leading us into all truth, filling us with all understanding;
Come as love,
that we may adore the Father, and love him as our all;
Come as joy,
to dwell in us, move in us, animate us;
Come as light,
illuminating the Scripture, moulding us in its laws;
Come as sanctifier,
body, soul and spirit wholly thine;
Come as helper,
with strength to bless and keep, directing our every step;
Come as beautifier,
bringing order out of confusion, loveliness out of chaos.
Magnify to us thy glory by being magnified in us,
and make us redolent of thy fragrance.
GOD THE SPIRIT
O LORD GOD,
we pray not so much for graces as for the Spirit himself,
because we feel his absence,
and act by our own spirit in everything.
Give us not weak desires but the power of his presence,
for this is the surest way to have all his graces,
and when we have the seal we have the impression also;
He can heal, help, quicken, humble suddenly and easily,
can work grace and life effectually,
and being eternal he can give grace eternally.
Save us from great hindrances,
from being content with a little measure of the Spirit,
from thinking thou wilt not give us more.
When we feel our lack of him, light up life and faith,
for when we lose thee we are either in the dark and cannot see thee,
or Satan and our natural abilities content us with a little light,
so that we seek no further for the Spirit of life.
Teach us then what to do.
Should we merely humble ourself and not stir up our heart?
Should we meditate and use all means to bring him near,
not being contented by one means,
but trust him to give us a blessing by the use of all,
depending only upon, and waiting always for, thy light, by use of means?
Is it a duty or an error to pray
and look for the fullness of the Spirit in us?
Am we mistaken in feeling we are empty of the Spirit
because we do not sense his presence within,
when all the time we are most empty
and could be more full by faith in Christ?
Was the fullness of the Spirit in the apostles chiefly a power,
giving the subsistence outside themselves in Christ,
in whom was their life and joy?
Teach us to find and know fullness of the Spirit only in Jesus.
THE SPIRIT OF JESUS
LORD JESUS CHRIST,
Fill us with thy Spirit
that we may be occupied with his presence.
we are blind?send him to make us see;
dark?let him say, ?Let there be light?!
May he give us faith to behold
my name engraven in thy hand,
my soul and body redeemed by thy blood,
my sinfulness covered by the life of pure obedience.
Replenish us by his revealing grace,
that we may realise our indissoluble union with thee;
that we may know thou hast espoused us to thyself for ever,
in righteousness, love, mercy, faithfulness;
that we are one with thee,
as a branch with its stock,
as a building with its foundation.
May his comforts cheer us in our sorrows,
his strength sustain us in our trials,
his blessings revive us in our weariness,
his presence render us a fruitful tree of holiness,
his might establish us in peace and joy,
his incitements make us ceaseless in prayer,
his animation kindle in us undying devotion.
Send him as the searcher of our heart,
to show us more of our corruptions and helplessness
that we may flee to thee,
cling to thee,
rest on thee,
as the beginning and end of our salvation.
May we never vex him by our indifference and waywardness,
grieve him by our cold welcome,
resist him by our hard rebellion.
Answer our prayers, O Lord, for thy great name?s sake.
THE SPIRIT?S WORK
O GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT,
Thou who dost proceed from the Father and the Son,
have mercy on us.
When thou didst first hover over chaos,
order came to birth,
beauty robed the world,
fruitfulness sprang forth.
Move, we pray thee, upon our disordered heart;
Take away the infirmities of unruly desires and hateful lusts;
Lift the mists and darkness of unbelief;
Brighten our soul with the pure light of truth;
Make it fragrant as the garden of paradise,
rich with every goodly fruit,
beautiful with heavenly grace,
radiant with rays of divine light.
Fulfil in us the glory of thy divine offices;
Be our comforter, light, guide, sanctifier;
Take of the things of Christ and show them to our soul;
Through thee may we daily learn more of his love,
grace, compassion, faithfulness, beauty;
Lead us to the cross and show us his wounds,
the hateful nature of evil,
the power of Satan;
May we there see our sins as the nails that transfixed him,
the cords that bound him,
the thorns that tore him,
the sword that pierced him.
Help us to find in his death the reality and immensity of his love.
Open for us the wondrous volumes of truth in his, ?It is finished?.
Increase our faith in the clear knowledge of
atonement achieved,
expiation completed,
satisfaction made,
guilt done away,
my debt paid,
my sins forgiven,
my person redeemed,
my soul saved,
hell vanquished,
heaven opened,
eternity made mine.
O Holy Spirit, deepen in us these saving lessons.
Write them upon our heart, that our walk be
sin-loathing,
sin-fleeing,
Christ-loving;
And suffer no devil?s device to beguile or deceive us.
THE SPIRIT AS TEACHER
O GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT,
That which we know not, teach thou us,
Keep us a humble disciple in the school of Christ,
learning daily there what we are in ourself,
a fallen sinful creature,
justly deserving everlasting destruction;
O let us never lose sight of our need of a Saviour,
or forget that apart from him we are nothing, and can do nothing.
Open our understanding to know the Holy Scriptures;
Reveal to our soul the counsels and works of the blessed Trinity;
Instil into our dark mind the saving knowledge of Jesus;
Make us acquainted with his covenant undertakings
and his perfect fulfilment of them,
that by resting on his finished work
we may find the Father?s love in the Son,
his Father, our Father,
and may be brought through thy influence
to have fellowship with the Three in One.
O lead us into all truth, thou Spirit of wisdom and revelation,
that we may know the things that belong unto our peace,
and through thee be made anew.
Make practical upon our heart the Father?s love
as thou hast revealed it in the Scriptures;
Apply to our soul the blood of Christ, effectually, continually,
and help us to believe, with conscience comforted,
that it cleanseth from all sin;
Lead us from faith to faith,
that we may at all times have freedom to come to a reconciled Father,
and may be able to maintain peace with him
against doubts, fears, corruptions, temptations.
Thy office is to teach us to draw near to Christ with a pure heart,
steadfastly persuaded of his love,
in the full assurance of faith.
Let us never falter in this way.

2. Redemption and Reconciliation


THE GOSPEL WAY
BLESSED LORD JESUS,
No human mind could conceive or invent the gospel.
Acting in eternal grace, thou art both its messenger and its message,
lived out on earth through infinite compassion,
applying thy life to insult, injury, death,
that we might be redeemed, ransomed, freed.
Blessed be thou, O Father, for contriving this way,
Eternal thanks to thee, O Lamb of God, for opening this way,
Praise everlasting to thee, O Holy Spirit,
for applying this way to our heart.
Glorious Trinity, impress the gospel on our soul,
until its virtue diffuses every faculty;
Let it be heard, acknowledged, professed, felt.
Teach us to secure this mighty blessing;
Help us to give up every darling lust,
to submit heart and life to its command,
to have it in our will,
controlling our affections,
moulding our understanding;
to adhere strictly to the rules of true religion,
not departing from them in any instance,
nor for any advantage in order to escape evil,
inconvenience or danger.
Take us to the cross to seek glory from its infamy;
Strip us of every pleasing pretence of righteousness by our own doings.
O gracious Redeemer,
we have neglected thee too long,
often crucified thee,
crucified thee afresh by our impenitence,
put thee to open shame.
we thank thee for the patience that has borne with us so long,
and for the grace that now makes us willing to be thine.
O unite us to thyself with inseparable bonds,
that nothing may ever draw us back from thee, our Lord, our Saviour.
THE AWAKENED SINNER
O our FORGETFUL SOUL,
Awake from thy wandering dream;
turn from chasing vanities,
look inward, forward, upward,
view thyself,
reflect upon thyself,
who and what thou art, why here,
what thou must soon be.
Thou art a creature of God,
formed and furnished by him,
lodged in a body like a shepherd in his tent;
Dost thou not desire to know God?s ways?
O GOD,
Thou injured, neglected, provoked Benefactor
when we think upon thy greatness and thy goodness
we are ashamed at our insensibility,
we blush to lift up our face,
for we have foolishly erred.
Shall we go on neglecting thee,
when every one of thy rational creatures should love thee,
and take every care to please thee?
we confess that thou hast not been in all our thoughts,
that the knowledge of thyself as the end of our being has been
strangely overlooked,
that we have never seriously considered our heart-need.
But although our mind is perplexed and divided, our nature perverse,
yet our secret dispositions still desire thee.
Let us not delay to come to thee;
Break the fatal enchantment that binds our evil affections,
and bring us to a happy mind that rests in thee,
for thou hast made us and canst not forget us.
Let thy Spirit teach us the vital lessons of Christ,
for we are slow to learn;
And hear thou our broken cries.


THE CONVICTING SPIRIT
THOU BLESSED SPIRIT, AUTHOR OF ALL GRACE AND COMFORT,
Come, work repentance in our soul;
Represent sin to us in its odious colours that we may hate it;
Melt our heart by the majesty and mercy of God;
Show us our ruined self and the help there is in him;
Teach us to behold our Creator,
his ability to save,
his arms outstretched,
his heart big for us.
May we confide in his power and love,
commit our soul to him without reserve,
bear his image,
observe his laws,
pursue his service,
and be through time and eternity
a monument to the efficacy of his grace,
a trophy of his victory.
Make us willing to be saved in his way,
perceiving nothing in ourself, but all in Jesus:
Help us not only to receive him but
to walk in him,
depend upon him,
commune with him,
be conformed to him,
follow him,
imperfect, but still pressing forward,
not complaining of labour, but valuing rest,
not murmuring under trials, but thankful for our state.
Give us that faith which is the means of salvation,
and the principle and medium of all godliness;
May we be saved by grace through faith,
live by faith,
feel the joy of faith,
do the work of faith.
Perceiving nothing in ourself, may we find in Christ
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption.


THE CRY OF A CONVICTED SINNER
THOU RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY SOVEREIGN,
In whose hand is our life and whose are all our ways,
Keep us from fluttering about religion;
fix us firm in it,
for we are irresolute;
my decisions are smoke and vapour,
and we do not glorify thee,
or behave according to thy will;
Cut us not off before our thoughts grow to responses,
and the budding of our soul into full flower,
for thou art forbearing and good,
patient and kind.
Save us from ourself,
from the artifices and deceits of sin,
from the treachery of our perverse nature,
from denying thy charge against our offences,
from a life of continual rebellion against thee,
from wrong principles, views, and ends;
for we know that all our thoughts, affections,
desires and pursuits are alienated from thee.
we have acted as if we hated thee, although thou art love itself;
have contrived to tempt thee to the uttermost,
to wear out thy patience;
have lived evilly in word and action.
Had we been a prince
we would long ago have crushed such a rebel;
Had we been a father
we would long since have rejected our child.
O, thou Father of our spirit,
thou King of our life,
cast us not into destruction,
drive us not from thy presence,
but wound our heart that it may be healed;
break it that thine own hand may make it whole.


GOD AND ourself
LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,
Thy understanding is unsearchable and infinite,
Thy arm cannot be stayed,
Thy agency extends through limitless space,
All works hang on thy care,
With thee time is a present now.
Holy is thy wisdom, power, mercy, ways, works.
How can we stand before thee
with our numberless and aggravated offences?
we have often loved darkness,
observed lying vanities,
forsaken thy given mercies,
trampled underfoot thy beloved Son,
mocked thy providences,
flattered thee with our lips,
broken thy covenant.
It is of thy compassion that we are not consumed.
Lead us to repentance, and save us from despair;
Let us come to thee renouncing, condemning, loathing ourself,
but hoping in the grace that flows even to the chief of sinners.
At the cross may we contemplate the evil of sin, and abhor it,
look on him whom we pierced,
as one slain for us, and by us.
May we never despise his death by fearing its efficacy for our salvation.
And whatever cross we are required to bear,
let us see him carrying a heavier.
Teach us in health to think of sickness,
in the brightest hours to be ready for darkness;
in life prepare us for death.
Thus may our soul rest in thee, O immortal and transcendent one,
revealed as thou art in the Person and work of thy Son,
the Friend of sinners.
THE MEDIATOR
EVERLASTING CREATOR-FATHER,
we have destroyed ourself,
my nature is defiled,
the powers of our soul are degraded;
we are vile, miserable, strengthless,
but our hope is in thee.
If ever we are saved it will be by goodness undeserved and astonishing,
not by mercy alone but by abundant mercy,
not by grace but by exceeding riches of grace;
And such thou hast revealed, promised, exemplified
in thoughts of peace, not of evil.
Thou hast devised means
to rescue us from sin?s perdition,
to restore us to happiness, honour, safety.
we bless thee for the everlasting covenant,
for the appointment of a Mediator.
we rejoice that he failed not, nor was discouraged,
but accomplished the work thou gavest him to do;
and said on the cross, ?It is finished.?
we exult in the thought that
thy justice is satisfied,
thy truth established,
thy law magnified,
and a foundation is laid for our hope.
we look to a present and personal interest in Christ and say,
Surely he has borne our griefs,
carried our sorrows,
won our peace,
healed our soul.
Justified by his blood we are saved by his life,
Glorying in his cross we bow to his sceptre,
Having his Spirit we possess his mind.
Lord, grant that our religion may not be occasional and partial,
but universal, influential, effective,
and may we always continue in thy words as well as thy works,
so that we may reach our end in peace.


THE PRECIOUS BLOOD
BLESSED LORD JESUS,
Before thy cross we kneel and see
the heinousness of our sin,
my iniquity that caused thee to be ?made a curse?,
the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.
Show us the enormity of our guilt by
the crown of thorns,
the pierced hands and feet,
the bruised body,
the dying cries.
Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God,
its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.
Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.
Sin is our malady, our monster, our foe, our viper,
born in our birth,
alive in our life,
strong in our character,
dominating our faculties,
following us as a shadow,
intermingling with our every thought,
my chain that holds us captive in the empire of our soul.
Sinner that we are, why should the sun give us light,
the air supply breath,
the earth bear our tread,
its fruits nourish us,
its creatures subserve our ends?
Yet thy compassions yearn over us,
thy heart hastens to our rescue,
thy love endured our curse,
thy mercy bore our deserved stripes.
Let us walk humbly in the lowest depths of humiliation,
bathed in thy blood,
tender of conscience,
triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation.


LOVE LUSTRES AT CALVARY
MY FATHER,
Enlarge our heart, warm our affections, open our lips,
supply words that proclaim ?Love lustres at Calvary.?
There grace removes our burdens and heaps them on thy Son,
made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for us;
There the sword of thy justice smote the man, thy fellow;
There thy infinite attributes were magnified,
and infinite atonement was made;
There infinite punishment was due,
and infinite punishment was endured.
Christ was all anguish that we might be all joy,
cast off that we might be brought in,
trodden down as an enemy
that we might be welcomed as a friend,
surrendered to hell?s worst
that we might attain heaven?s best,
stripped that we might be clothed,
wounded that we might be healed,
athirst that we might drink,
tormented that we might be comforted,
made a shame that we might inherit glory,
entered darkness that we might have eternal light.
Our Saviour wept that all tears might be wiped from our eyes,
groaned that we might have endless song,
endured all pain that we might have unfading health,
bore a thorny crown that we might have a glory-diadem,
bowed his head that we might uplift mine,
experienced reproach that we might receive welcome,
closed his eyes in death that we might gaze on unclouded
brightness,
expired that we might for ever live.
O Father, who spared not thine only Son that thou mightest spare us,
All this transfer thy love designed and accomplished;
Help us to adore thee by lips and life.
O that our every breath might be ecstatic praise,
my every step buoyant with delight, as we see
my enemies crushed,
Satan baffled, defeated, destroyed,
sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood,
hell?s gates closed,
heaven?s portal open.
Go forth, O conquering God, and show us the cross,
mighty to subdue, comfort and save.
THE SAVIOUR
THOU GOD OF ALL GRACE,
Thou hast given us a Saviour,
produce in us a faith to live by him,
to make him all our desire,
all our hope,
all our glory.
May we enter him as our refuge,
build on him as our foundation,
walk in him as our way,
follow him as our guide,
conform to him as our example,
receive his instructions as our prophet,
rely on his intercession as our high priest,
obey him as our king.
May we never be ashamed of him or his words,
but joyfully bear his reproach,
never displease him by unholy or imprudent conduct,
never count it a glory if we take it patiently when buffeted for a fault,
never make the multitude our model,
never delay when thy Word invites us to advance.
May thy dear Son preserve us from this present evil world,
so that its smiles never allure,
nor its frowns terrify,
nor its vices defile,
nor its errors delude us.
May we feel that we are a stranger and a pilgrim on earth,
declaring plainly that we seek a country,
my title to it becoming daily more clear,
my meetness for it more perfect,
my foretastes of it more abundant;
and whatsoever we do may it be done in the Saviour?s name.


RECONCILIATION
LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,
Thou art beforehand with men
for thou hast reconciled thyself to the world through the cross,
and dost beseech men to accept reconciliation.
It is our responsibility to grasp thy overtures of grace,
for if thou, the offended part, act first
with the word of appeasement,
we need not call in question thy willingness to save,
but must deplore our own foolish maliciousness;
If we do not come to thee as one who seeks thy favour,
we live in contempt, anger, malice, self-sufficiency,
and thou dost call it enmity.

Thou hast taught us the necessity of a Mediator, a Messiah,
to be embraced in love with all our heart,
as king to rule us,
as prophet to guide us,
as priest to take away our sin and death,
and this by faith in thy beloved Son who teaches us
not to guide ourself,
not to obey ourself,
not to try to rule and conquer sin,
but to cleave to the one who will do all for us.

Thou hast made known to us
that to save us is Christ?s work,
but to cleave to him by faith is our work,
and with this faith is the necessity of our daily repentance
as a mourning for the sin which Christ by grace has removed.
Continue, O God, to teach us
that faith apprehends Christ?s righteousness
not only for the satisfaction of justice,
but as unspotted evidence of thy love to us.

Help us to make use of his work of salvation as the ground of peace,
and of thy favour to, and acceptance of us the sinner,
so that we may live always near the cross.


DELIVERANCE
O GOD OF UNSEARCHABLE GREATNESS,
Before thee we are nothing but vanity, iniquity, perishing;
Sin has forfeited thy favour,
stripped us of thy image,
banished us from thy presence,
exposed us to the curse of thy law;
we cannot deliver ourself, and are in despair.
But a resource is found in thee,
for without our desert or desire
thou didst devise an everlasting plan,
honourable to thy perfections,
and which angels desired to look into.
And the Word which announces all the glory of this goodness
is nigh us, invites us, beseeches us.
May I, a convinced and self-despairing sinner,
find Jesus as the power unto salvation,
his death the centre of all relief,
the source of all gospel-blessings.
Help us to repair to that cross,
be crucified to the world by it,
and in it find deepest humiliation,
motives to patience and self-denial,
grace for active benevolence,
faith to grasp eternal life,
hope to lift up our head,
love to bind us for ever
to him who died and rose for us.
May his shed blood make us
more thankful for thy mercies,
more humble under thy correction,
more zealous in thy service,
more watchful against temptation,
more contented in our circumstances,
more useful to others.
REGENERATION
O GOD OF THE HIGHEST HEAVEN,
Occupy the throne of our heart,
take full possession and reign supreme,
lay low every rebel lust,
let no vile passion resist thy holy war;
manifest thy mighty power,
and make us thine for ever.
Thou art worthy to be praised with our every breath,
loved with our every faculty of soul,
served with our every act of life.
Thou hast loved us, espoused us, received us,
purchased, washed, favoured, clothed, adorned us,
when we was worthless, vile, soiled, polluted.
we was dead in iniquities,
having no eyes to see thee,
no ears to hear thee,
no taste to relish thy joys,
no intelligence to know thee;
But thy Spirit has quickened us,
has brought us into a new world as a new creature,
has given us spiritual perception,
has opened to us thy Word as light, guide, solace, joy.
Thy presence is to us a treasure of unending peace;
No provocation can part us from thy sympathy,
for thou hast drawn us with cords of love,
and dost forgive us daily, hourly.
O help us then to walk worthy of thy love,
of our hopes, and our vocation.
Keep us, for we cannot keep ourself;
Protect us that no evil befall us;
Let us lay aside every sin admired of many;
Help us to walk by thy side,
lean on thy arm,
hold converse with thee,
That henceforth we may be salt of the earth and a blessing to all.
RESURRECTION
O GOD OF our EXODUS,
Great was the joy of Israel?s sons,
when Egypt died upon the shore,
Far greater the joy
when the Redeemer?s foe lay crushed in the dust.
Jesus strides forth as the victor,
conqueror of death, hell, and all opposing might;
He bursts the bands of death,
tramples the powers of darkness down,
and lives for ever.
He, our gracious surety,
apprehended for payment of our debt,
comes forth from the prison house of the grave
free, and triumphant over sin, Satan, and death.
Show us herein the proof that his vicarious offering is accepted,
that the claims of justice are satisfied,
that the devil?s sceptre is shivered,
that his wrongful throne is levelled.
Give us the assurance that in Christ we died, in him we rose,
in his life we live, in his victory we triumph,
in his ascension we shall be glorified.
Adorable Redeemer,
thou who wast lifted up upon a cross
art ascended to highest heaven.
Thou, who as Man of sorrows wast crowned with thorns,
art now as Lord of life wreathed with glory.
Once, no shame more deep than thine,
no agony more bitter, no death more cruel.
Now, no exaltation more high,
no life more glorious, no advocate more effective.
Thou art in the triumph car leading captive thine enemies behind thee.
What more could be done than thou hast done!
Thy death is our life,
thy resurrection our peace,
thy ascension our hope,
thy prayers our comfort.
ELECTION
HOLY TRINITY,
All praise to thee for electing us to salvation,
by foreknowledge of God the Father,
through sanctification of the Spirit,
unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus;
we adore the wonders of thy condescending love,
marvel at the true believer?s high privilege
within whom all heaven comes to dwell,
abiding in God and God in him;
we believe it, help us experience it to the full.
Continue to teach us that Christ?s righteousness
satisfies justice and evidences thy love;
Help us to make use of it by faith as the ground of our peace
and of thy favour and acceptance,
so that we may live always near the cross.
It is not feeling the Spirit that proves our saved state
but the truth of what Christ did perfectly for us;
All holiness in him is by faith made mine,
as if we had done it;
Therefore we see the use of his righteousness,
for satisfaction to divine justice and making us righteous.
It is not inner sensation that makes Christ?s death mine
for that may be delusion, being without the Word,
but his death apprehended by our faith,
and so testified by Word and Spirit.
we bless thee for these lively exercises of faith,
for the righteousness that is mine in Jesus,
for grace to resign our will to thee;
we rejoice to think that all things are at thy disposal,
and we love to leave them there.
Then prayer turns wholly into praise,
and all we can do is to adore and love thee.
we want not the favour of man to lean upon,
for we know that thy electing grace is infinitely better.
CHRISTIAN CALLING
O LORD GOD,
The first act of calling is by thy command in thy Word,
?Come unto us, return unto us?;
The second is to let in light,
so that we see that we are called particularly,
and perceive the sweetness of the command as well as its truth,
in regard to thy great love of the sinner,
by inviting him to come, though vile,
in regard to the end of the command,
which is fellowship with thee,
in regard to thy promise in the gospel,
which is all of grace.
Therefore, Lord,
we need not search to see if we are elect, or loved,
for if we turn thou wilt come to us;
Christ has promised us fellowship if we take him,
and the Spirit will pour himself out on us,
abolishing sin and punishment,
assuring us of strength to persevere.
It is thy pleasure to help all that pray for grace,
and come to thee for it.
When our heart is unsavoury with sin, sorrow, darkness, hell,
only thy free grace can help us act with deep abasement
under a sense of unworthiness.
Let us lament for forgetting daily to come to thee,
and cleanse us from the deceit of bringing our heart to a duty
because the act pleased us or appealed to reason.
Grant that we may be salted with suffering,
with every exactment tempered to our soul,
every rod excellently fitted to our back,
to chastise, humble, break us.
Let us not overlook the hand that holds the rod,
as thou didst not let us forget the rod that fell on Christ,
and drew us to him.
ASSURANCE
ALMIGHTY GOD,
we are loved with everlasting love,
clothed in eternal righteousness,
my peace flowing like a river,
my comforts many and large,
my joy and triumph unutterable,
my soul lively with a knowledge of salvation,
my sense of justification unclouded.
we have scarce anything to pray for;
Jesus smiles upon our soul as a ray of heaven
and our supplications are swallowed up in praise.
How sweet is the glorious doctrine of election
when based upon thy Word
and wrought inwardly within the soul!
we bless thee that thou wilt keep the sinner thou hast loved,
and hast engaged that he will not forsake thee,
else we would never get to heaven.
we wrong the work of grace in our heart
if we deny our new nature and our eternal life.
If Jesus were not our righteousness and redemption,
we would sink into nethermost hell
by our misdoings, shortcomings, unbelief, unlove;
If Jesus were not by the power of his Spirit our sanctification,
there is no sin we should not commit.
O when shall we have his mind!
when shall we be conformed to his image?
All the good things of life are less than nothing
when compared with his love,
and with one glimpse of thy electing favour.
All the treasures of a million worlds could not make us richer,
happier, more contented,
for his unsearchable riches are mine.
One moment of communion with him,
one view of his grace,
is ineffable, inestimable.
But O God, we could not long after thy presence
if we did not know the sweetness of it;
And such we could not know except by thy Spirit in our heart,
nor love thee at all unless thou didst
elect us,
call us,
adopt us,
save us.
we bless thee for the covenant of grace.
A CONVERT?S FIRST PRAYER
MY FATHER,
we could never have sought our happiness in thy love,
unless thou had?st first loved us.
Thy Spirit has encouraged us by grace to seek thee,
has made known to us thy reconciliation in Jesus,
has taught us to believe it,
has helped us to take thee for our God and portion.
May he grant us to grow in the knowledge and experience of thy love,
and walk in it all the way to glory.
Blessed for ever be thy fatherly affection,
which chose us to be one of thy children
by faith in Jesus:
we thank thee for giving us the desire to live as such.
In Jesus, our brother, we have our new birth,
every restraining power,
every renewing grace.
It is by thy Spirit we call thee Father,
believe in thee, love thee;
Strengthen us inwardly for every purpose of our Christian life;
Let the Spirit continually reveal to us our interest in Christ,
and open to us the riches of thy love in him;
May he abide in us that we may know our union with Jesus,
and enter into constant fellowship with him;
By thy Spirit may we daily live to thee,
rejoice in thy love,
find it the same to us as to thy Son,
and become rooted and grounded in it as a house on rock;
we know but little?
increase our knowledge of thy love in Jesus,
keep us pressing forward for clearer discoveries of it,
so that we may find its eternal fullness;
Magnify thy love to us according to its greatness,
and not according to our deserts or prayers,
and whatever increase thou givest, let it draw out greater love to thee.
THE LIFE LOOK
O GOD,
we bless thee for the happy moment when we first saw
thy law fulfilled in Christ,
wrath appeased,
death destroyed,
sin forgiven,
my soul saved.
Ever since, thou hast been faithful to us:
daily have we proved the power of Jesus? blood,
daily have we known the strength of the Spirit,
my teacher, director, sanctifier.
we want no other rock to build upon than that we have,
desire no other hope than that of gospel truth,
need no other look than that which gazes on the cross.
Forgive us if we have tried to add anything to the one foundation,
if we have unconsciously relied upon our knowledge,
experience, deeds, and not seen them as filthy rags,
if we have attempted to complete what is perfect in Christ;
May our cry be always, Only Jesus! only Jesus!
In him is freedom from condemnation,
fullness in his righteousness,
eternal vitality in his given life,
indissoluble union in fellowship with him;
In him we have all that we can hold;
enlarge us to take in more.
If we backslide,
let us like Peter weep bitterly and return to him;
If we are tempted, and have no wit,
give us strength enough to trust in him;
If we are weak,
may we faint upon his bosom of eternal love;
If in extremity,
let us feel that he can deliver us;
If driven to the verge of hope and to the pit of despair,
grant us grace to fall into his arms.
O God, hear us, do for us more than we ask, think, or dream.
VICTORY
O DIVINE REDEEMER,
Great was thy goodness
in undertaking our redemption,
in consenting to be made sin for us,
in conquering all our foes;
Great was thy strength
in enduring the extremities of divine wrath,
in taking away the load of our iniquities;
Great was thy love
in manifesting thyself alive,
in showing thy sacred wounds,
that every fear might vanish, and every doubt be removed;
Great was thy mercy
in ascending to heaven
in being crowned and enthroned
there to intercede for us,
there to succour us in temptation,
there to open the eternal book,
there to receive us finally to thyself;
Great was thy wisdom
in devising this means of salvation;
Bathe our soul in rich consolations of thy resurrection life;
Great was thy grace
in commanding us to come hand in hand with thee to the Father,
to be knit to him eternally,
to discover in him our rest,
to find in him our peace,
to behold his glory,
to honour him who is alone worthy;
in giving us the Spirit as teacher, guide, power, that
we may live repenting of sin,
conquer Satan,
find victory in life.
When thou art absent all sorrows are here,
When thou art present all blessings are mine.
FREEDOM
O HOLY FATHER, thou hast freely given thy Son,
O DIVINE SON, thou hast freely paid our debt,
O ETERNAL SPIRIT, thou hast freely bid us come,
O TRIUNE GOD, thou dost freely grace us with salvation.
Prayers and tears could not suffice to pardon our sins,
nor anything less than atoning blood,
but our believing is our receiving,
for a thankful acceptance is no paying of the debt.
What didst thou see in us?
that we a poor, diseased, despised sinner
should be clothed in thy bright glory?
that a creeping worm
should be advanced to this high state?
that one lately groaning, weeping, dying,
should be as full of joy as our heart can hold?
that a being of dust and darkness
should be taken like Mordecawe from captivity,
and set next to the king?
should be lifted like Daniel from a den
and be made ruler of princes and provinces?
Who can fathom immeasurable love?
As far as the rational soul exceeds the senses,
so does the spirit exceed the rational in its knowledge of thee.
Thou hast given us understanding to compass the earth,
measure the sun, moon, stars, universe,
but above all to know thee, the only true God.
we marvel that the finite can know the Infinite,
here a little, afterwards in full-orbed truth;
Now we know but a small portion of what we shall know,
here in part, there in perfection,
here a glimpse, there a glory.
To enjoy thee is life eternal,
and to enjoy is to know.
Keep us in the freedom of experiencing thy salvation continually.
BELONGING TO JESUS
O HEAVENLY FATHER,
Teach us to see
that if Christ has pacified thee and satisfied divine justice
he can also deliver us from our sins;
that Christ does not desire us, now justified,
to live in self-confidence in our own strength,
but gives us the law of the Spirit of life
to enable us to obey thee;
that the Spirit and his power are mine
by resting on Christ?s death;
that the Spirit of life within answers to the law without;
that if we sin not we should thank thee for it;
that if we sin we should be humbled daily under it;
that we should mourn for sin more than other men do,
for when we see we shall die because of sin,
that makes us mourn;
when we see how sin strikes at thee,
that makes us mourn;
when we see that sin caused Christ?s death,
that makes us mourn;
that sanctification is the evidence of reconciliation,
proving that faith has truly apprehended Christ;
Thou hast taught us
that faith is nothing else than receiving thy kindness;
that it is an adherence to Christ, a resting on him,
love clinging to him as a branch to the tree,
to seek life and vigour from him.
we thank thee for showing us the vast difference
between knowing things by reason,
and knowing them by the spirit of faith.
By reason we see a thing is so; by faith we know it as it is.
we have seen thee by reason and have not been amazed,
we have seen thee as thou art in thy Son
and have been ravished to behold thee.
we bless thee that we are thine in our Saviour, Jesus.
LIVING FOR JESUS
O SAVIOUR OF SINNERS,
Thy name is excellent,
thy glory high,
thy compassions unfailing,
thy condescension wonderful,
thy mercy tender.
we bless thee for the discoveries, invitations, promises of the gospel
for in them is pardon for rebels,
liberty for captives,
health for the sick,
salvation for the lost.
we come to thee in thy beloved name of Jesus;
re-impress thy image upon our soul;
Raise us above the smiles and frowns of the world,
regarding it as a light thing to be judged by men;
May thy approbation be our only aim,
thy Word our one rule.
Make us to abhor that which grieves thy Holy Spirit,
to suspect consolations of a worldly nature,
to shun a careless way of life,
to reprove evil,
to instruct with meekness those who oppose us,
to be gentle and patient towards all men,
to be not only a professor but an example of the gospel,
displaying in every relation, office, and condition
its excellency, loveliness and advantages.
How little have we illustrated our principles
and improved our privileges!
How seldom we served our generation!
How often have we injured and not recommended our Redeemer!
How few are those blessed through us!
In many things we have offended,
in all come short of thy glory;
Pardon our iniquity, for it is great.
KEPT BY GOD
JEHOVAH GOD,
Thou Creator, Upholder, Proprietor of all things,
we cannot escape from thy presence or control,
nor do we desire to do so.
Our privilege is to be under the agency of omnipotence,
righteousness, wisdom, patience, mercy, grace.
Thou art love with more than parental affection;
we admire thy heart,
adore thy wisdom,
stand in awe of thy power,
abase ourself before thy purity.
It is the discovery of thy goodness alone that can
banish our fear,
allure us into thy presence,
help us to bewail and confess our sins.
When we review our past guilt
and are conscious of our present unworthiness
we tremble to come to thee,
we whose foundation is in the dust,
we who have condemned thy goodness,
defied thy power,
trampled upon thy love,
rendered ourself worthy of eternal death.
But our recovery cannot spring from any cause in us,
we can destroy but cannot save ourself.
Yet thou hast laid help on One that is mighty,
for there is mercy with thee,
and exceeding riches in thy kindness through Jesus.
May we always feel our need of him.
Let thy restored joy be our strength;
May it keep us from lusting after the world,
bear up heart and mind in loss of comforts,
enliven us in the valley of death,
work in us the image of the heavenly,
and give us to enjoy the first fruits of spirituality,
such as angels and departed saints know.
A CHRISTIAN?S PRAYER
BLESSED GOD,
Ten thousand snares are mine without and within,
defend thou us;
When sloth and indolence seize us,
give us views of heaven;
When sinners entice us,
give us disrelish of their ways;
When sensual pleasures tempt us,
purify and refine us;
When we desire worldly possessions,
help us to be rich toward thee;
When the vanities of the world ensnare us,
let us not plunge into new guilt and ruin.
May we remember the dignity of our spiritual release,
never be too busy to attend to our soul,
never be so engrossed with time
that we neglect the things of eternity;
thus may we not only live, but grow towards thee.
Form our mind to right notions of religion,
that we may not judge of grace by wrong conceptions,
nor measure our spiritual advances by the efforts of our natural being.
May we seek after an increase of divine love to thee,
after unreserved resignation to thy will,
after extensive benevolence to our fellow creatures,
after patience and fortitude of soul,
after a heavenly disposition
after a concern that we may please thee in public and private.
Draw on our soul the lineaments of Christ,
in every trace and feature of which thou wilt take delight, for we are
thy workmanship, created in Christ Jesus,
thy letter written with the Holy Spirit?s pen,
thy tilled soil ready for the sowing, then harvest.
AMAZING GRACE
O THOU GIVING GOD,
Our heart is drawn out in thankfulness to thee,
for thy amazing grace and condescension to us
in influences and assistances of thy Spirit,
for special help in prayer,
for the sweetness of Christian service,
for the thoughts of arriving in heaven,
for always sending us needful supplies,
for raising us to new life when we are like one dead.
we want not the favour of man to lean upon
for thy favour is infinitely better.
Thou art eternal wisdom in dispensations towards us;
and it matters not when, nor where, nor how we serve thee,
nor what trials we are exercised with,
if we might but be prepared for thy work and will.
No poor creature stands in need of divine grace more than we do,
and yet none abuses it more than we have done, and still do.
How heartless and dull we are!
Humble us in the dust for not loving thee more.
Every time we exercise any grace renewedly
we are renewedly indebted to thee,
the God of all grace, for special assistance.
we cannot boast when we think how dependent we are upon thee
for the being and every act of grace;
we never do anything else but depart from thee,
and if ever we get to heaven it will be because thou willest it,
and for no reason beside.
we love, as a feeble, afflicted, despised creature,
to cast ourself on thy infinite grace and goodness,
hoping for no happiness but from thee;
Give us special grace to fit us for special services,
and keep us calm and resigned at all times,
humble,
solemn,
mortified, and
conformed to thy will.
THE GREAT DISCOVERY
GLORIOUS GOD,
we bless thee that we know thee.
we once lived in the world, but was ignorant of its Creator,
was partaker of thy providences, but knew not the Provider,
was blind while enjoying the sunlight,
was deaf to all things spiritual, with voices all around us,
understood many things, but had no knowledge of thy ways,
saw the world, but did not see Jesus only.
O happy day, when in thy love?s sovereignty
thou didst look on us, and call us by grace.
Then did the dead heart begin to beat,
the darkened eye glimmer with light,
the dull ear catch thy echo,
and we turned to thee and found thee,
a God ready to hear, willing to save.
Then did we find our heart at enmity to thee, vexing thy Spirit;
Then did we fall at thy feet and hear thee thunder,
?The soul that sinneth, it must die?,
But when grace made us to know thee,
and admire a God who hated sin,
thy terrible justice held our will submissive.
Our thoughts were then as knives cutting our head.
Then didst thou come to us in silken robes of love,
and we saw thy Son dying that we might live,
and in that death we found our all.
Our soul doth sing at the remembrance of that peace;
The gospel cornet brought a sound unknown to us before
that reached our heart?and we lived?
never to lose our hold on Christ or his hold on us.
Grant that we may always weep to the praise of mercy found,
and tell to others as long as we live,
that thou art a sin-pardoning God,
taking up the blasphemer and the ungodly,
and washing them from their deepest stain.
A NEOPHYTE?S DEVOTION
GLORIOUS AND HOLY GOD,
Provocations against thy divine majesty have filled our whole life.
Our offences have been countless and aggravated.
Conscience has rebuked us,
friends have admonished us,
the examples of others have reproached us,
thy rod has chastised us,
thy kindnesses allured us.
Thou hast seen and abhorred all our sins and
couldst easily and justly have punished us,
yet thou hast spared us,
been gracious unto us,
given us thy help,
invited us to thy table.
Lord, we thankfully obey thy call,
accept of thy goodness,
acquiesce in thy gospel appointments.
we believe that Jesus thy Son has plenteous redemption;
we apply to him for his benefits,
give up our mind implicitly to his instructions,
trust and glory in his sacrifice,
revere and love his authority,
pray that his grace may reign in our life.
we will not love a world that crucified him,
neither cherish nor endure the sin that put him to grief,
nor suffer him to be wounded by others.
At the cross that relieves our conscience
let us learn lessons of self-denial, forgiveness and submission,
feel motives to obedience,
find resources for all needs of the divine life.
Then let us be what we profess,
do as well as teach,
live as well as hear religion.
THE ?NEVERS? OF THE GOSPEL
O LORD,
May I
never fail to come to the knowledge of the truth,
never rest in a system of doctrine, however scriptural,
that does not bring or further salvation,
or teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts,
or help us to live soberly, righteously, godly;
never rely on our own convictions and resolutions,
but be strong in thee and in thy might;
never cease to find thy grace sufficient
in all our duties, trials, and conflicts;
never forget to repair to thee
in all our spiritual distresses and outward troubles,
in all the dissatisfactions experienced in creature comforts;
never fail to retreat to him who is full of grace and truth,
the friend that loveth at all times,
who is touched with feelings of our infirmities,
and can do exceeding abundantly for us;
never confine our religion to extraordinary occasions,
but acknowledge thee in all our ways;
never limit our devotions to particular seasons
but be in thy fear all the day long;
never be godly only on the sabbath or in thy house,
but on every day abroad and at home;
never make piety a dress but a habit,
not only a habit but a nature,
not only a nature but a life.
Do good to us by all thy dispensations,
by all means of grace,
by worship, prayers, praises,
And at last let us enter that world where is no temple,
but only thy glory and the Lamb?s.
TRUE RELIGION
LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,
we ask not to be enrolled amongst the earthly great and rich,
but to be numbered with the spiritually blessed.
Make it our present, supreme, persevering concern
to obtain those blessings which are
spiritual in their nature,
eternal in their continuance,
satisfying in their possession.
Preserve us from a false estimate of the whole or a part of our character;
May we pay regard to our principles as well as our conduct,
my motives as well as our actions.
Help us never to mistake the excitement of our passions
for the renewing of the Holy Spirit,
never to judge our religion by occasional impressions and
impulses, but by our constant and prevailing disposition.
May our heart be right with thee,
and our life as becometh the gospel.
May we maintain a supreme regard to another and better world,
and feel and confess ourself a stranger and a pilgrim here.
Afford us all the direction, defence, support, and consolation
my journey hence requires,
and grant us a mind stayed upon thee.
Give us large abundance of the supply of the Spirit of Jesus,
that we may be prepared for every duty,
love thee in all our mercies,
submit to thee in every trial,
trust thee when walking in darkness,
have peace in thee amidst life?s changes.
Lord, we believe, help thou our unbelief and uncertainties.

3. Penitence and Deprecation
SELF-KNOWLEDGE
SEARCHER OF HEARTS,
It is a good day to us when thou givest us
a glimpse of ourself;
Sin is our greatest evil,
but thou art our greatest good;
we have cause to loathe ourself,
and not to seek self-honour,
for no one desires to commend his own dunghill.
Our country, family, church
fare worse because of our sins,
for sinners bring judgment in thinking sins are small,
or that God is not angry with them.
Let us not take other good men as our example,
and think we are good because we are like them,
For all good men are not so good as thou desirest,
are not always consistent,
do not always follow holiness,
do not feel eternal good in sore affliction.
Show us how to know when a thing is evil
which we think is right and good,
how to know when what is lawful
comes from an evil principle,
such as desire for reputation or wealth by usury.
Give us grace to recall our needs,
my lack of knowing thy will in Scripture,
of wisdom to guide others,
of daily repentance, want of which keeps thee at bay,
of the spirit of prayer, having words without love,
of zeal for thy glory, seeking our own ends,
of joy in thee and thy will,
of love to others.
And let us not lay our pipe too short of the fountain,
never touching the eternal spring,
never drawing down water from above.


YET we SIN
ETERNAL FATHER,
Thou art good beyond all thought,
But we are vile, wretched, miserable, blind;
Our lips are ready to confess,
but our heart is slow to feel,
and our ways reluctant to amend.
we bring our soul to thee;
break it, wound it, bend it, mould it.
Unmask to us sin?s deformity,
that we may hate it, abhor it, flee from it.
Our faculties have been a weapon of revolt against thee;
as a rebel we have misused our strength,
and served the foul adversary of thy kingdom.
Give us grace to bewail our insensate folly,
Grant us to know that the way of transgressors is hard,
that evil paths are wretched paths,
that to depart from thee is to lose all good.
we have seen the purity and beauty of thy perfect law,
the happiness of those in whose heart it reigns,
the calm dignity of the walk to which it calls,
yet we daily violate and contemn its precepts.
Thy loving Spirit strives within us,
brings us Scripture warnings,
speaks in startling providences,
allures by secret whispers,
yet we choose devices and desires to our own hurt,
impiously resent, grieve,
and provoke him to abandon us.
All these sins we mourn, lament, and for them cry pardon.
Work in us more profound and abiding repentance;
Give us the fullness of a godly grief that trembles and fears,
yet ever trusts and loves,
which is ever powerful, and ever confident;
Grant that through the tears of repentance we may see more clearly
the brightness and glories of the saving cross.
THE DARK GUEST
O LORD,
Bend our hands and cut them off,
for we have often struck thee with a wayward will,
when these fingers should embrace thee by faith.
we are not yet weaned from all created glory,
honour, wisdom, and esteem of others,
for we have a secret motive to eye our name in all we do.
Let us not only speak the word sin, but see the thing itself.
Give us to view a discovered sinfulness,
to know that though our sins are crucified
they are never wholly mortified.
Hatred, malice, ill-will,
vain-glory that hungers for and hunts after man?s approval and applause,
all are crucified, forgiven,
but they rise again in our sinful heart.
O our crucified but never wholly mortified sinfulness!
O our life-long damage and daily shame!
O our indwelling and besetting sins!
O the tormenting slavery of a sinful heart!
Destroy, O God, the dark guest within
whose hidden presence makes our life a hell.
Yet thou hast not left us here without grace;
The cross still stands and meets our needs
in the deepest straits of the soul.
we thank thee that our remembrance of it
is like David?s sight of Goliath?s sword
which preached forth thy deliverance.
The memory of our great sins, our many temptations, our falls,
bring afresh into our mind the remembrance
of thy great help, of thy support from heaven,
of the great grace that saved such a wretch as we are.
There is no treasure so wonderful
as that continuous experience of thy grace toward us
which alone can subdue the risings of sin within:
Give us more of it.
PARADOXES
O CHANGELESS GOD,
Under the conviction of thy Spirit we learn that
the more we do, the worse we are,
the more we know, the less we know,
the more holiness we have, the more sinful we are,
the more we love, the more there is to love.
O wretched man that we are!
O Lord,
we have a wild heart,
and cannot stand before thee;
we are like a bird before a man.
How little we love thy truth and ways!
we neglect prayer,
by thinking we have prayed enough and earnestly,
by knowing thou hast saved our soul.
Of all hypocrites, grant that we may not be an evangelical hypocrite,
who sins more safely because grace abounds,
who tells his lusts that Christ?s blood cleanseth them,
who reasons that God cannot cast him into hell, for he is saved,
who loves evangelical preaching, churches, Christians, but lives unholily.
Our mind is a bucket without a bottom,
with no spiritual understanding,
no desire for the Lord?s Day,
ever learning but never reaching the truth,
always at the gospel-well but never holding water.
Our conscience is without conviction or contrition,
with nothing to repent of.
Our will is without power of decision or resolution.
Our heart is without affection, and full of leaks.
Our memory has no retention,
so we forget easily the lessons learned,
and thy truths seep away.
Give us a broken heart that yet carries home the water of grace.
HEART CORRUPTIONS
O GOD,
May thy Spirit speak in us that we may speak to thee.
we have no merit, let the merit of Jesus stand for us.
we are undeserving, but we look to thy tender mercy.
we are full of infirmities, wants, sin; thou art full of grace.
we confess our sin, our frequent sin, our wilful sin;
All our powers of body and soul are defiled:
A fountain of pollution is deep within our nature.
There are chambers of foul images within our being;
we have gone from one odious room to another,
walked in a no-man?s-land of dangerous imaginations,
pried into the secrets of our fallen nature.
we are utterly ashamed that we are what we are in ourself;
we have no green shoot in us nor fruit, but thorns and thistles;
we are a fading leaf that the wind drives away;
we live bare and barren as a winter tree,
unprofitable, fit to be hewn down and burnt.
Lord, dost thou have mercy on us?
Thou hast struck a heavy blow at our pride,
at the false god of self,
and we lie in pieces before thee.
But thou hast given us another Master and Lord, thy Son, Jesus,
and now our heart is turned towards holiness,
my life speeds as an arrow from a bow
towards complete obedience to thee.
Help us in all our doings to put down sin and to humble pride.
Save us from the love of the world and the pride of life,
from everything that is natural to fallen man,
and let Christ?s nature be seen in us day by day.
Grant us grace to bear thy will without repining, and delight to be
not only chiselled, squared, or fashioned,
but separated from the old rock where we have been embedded so long,
and lifted from the quarry to the upper air,
where we may be built in Christ for ever.
SELF-DEPRECATION
O LORD,
Our every sense, member, faculty, affection,
is a snare to us,
we can scarce open our eyes but we envy those above us,
or despise those below.
we covet honour and riches of the mighty,
and are proud and unmerciful to the rags of others;
If we behold beauty it is a bait to lust,
or see deformity, it stirs up loathing and disdain;
How soon do slanders, vain jests, and wanton speeches creep into our heart!
Am we comely? what fuel for pride!
Am we deformed? what an occasion for repining!
Am we gifted? we lust after applause!
Am we unlearned? how we despise what we have not!
Am we in authority? how prone to abuse our trust,
make will our law,
exclude others? enjoyments,
serve our own interests and policy!
Am we inferior? how much we grudge others? pre-eminence!
Am we rich? how exalted we become!
Thou knowest that all these are snares by our corruptions,
and that our greatest snare is ourself.
we bewail that our apprehensions are dull,
my thoughts mean,
my affections stupid,
my expressions low,
my life unbeseeming;
Yet what canst thou expect of dust but levity,
of corruption but defilement?
Keep us ever mindful of our natural state,
but let us not forget our heavenly title,
or the grace that can deal with every sin.
THE DEEPS
LORD JESUS,
Give us a deeper repentance,
a horror of sin,
a dread of its approach;
Help us chastely to flee it,
and jealously to resolve that our heart shall be thine alone.
Give us a deeper trust,
that we may lose ourself to find ourself in thee,
the ground of our rest,
the spring of our being.
Give us a deeper knowledge of thyself
as Saviour, Master, Lord, and King.
Give us deeper power in private prayer,
more sweetness in thy Word,
more steadfast grip on its truth.
Give us deeper holiness in speech, thought, action,
and let us not seek moral virtue apart from thee.
Plough deep in us, great Lord, heavenly Husbandman,
that our being may be a tilled field,
the roots of grace spreading far and wide,
until thou alone art seen in us,
thy beauty golden like summer harvest,
thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.
we have no Master but thee,
no law but thy will,
no delight but thyself,
no wealth but that thou givest,
no good but that thou blessest,
no peace but that thou bestowest.
we are nothing but that thou makest us,
we have nothing but that we receive from thee,
we can be nothing but that grace adorns us.
Quarry us deep, dear Lord,
and then fill us to overflowing with living water.
CONTINUAL REPENTANCE
O GOD OF GRACE,
Thou hast imputed our sin to our substitute,
and hast imputed his righteousness to our soul,
clothing us with a bridegroom?s robe,
decking us with jewels of holiness.
But in our Christian walk we are still in rags;
my best prayers are stained with sin;
my penitential tears are so much impurity;
my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin;
my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness.
we need to repent of our repentance;
we need our tears to be washed;
we have no robe to bring to cover our sins,
no loom to weave our own righteousness;
we are always standing clothed in filthy garments,
and by grace are always receiving change of raiment,
for thou dost always justify the ungodly;
we are always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive us,
and thou art always bringing forth the best robe.
Every morning let us wear it,
every evening return in it,
go out to the day?s work in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.
Grant us never to lose sight of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation,
the exceeding glory of Christ,
the exceeding beauty of holiness,
the exceeding wonder of grace.
CONFESSION AND PETITION
HOLY LORD,
we have sinned times without number,
and been guilty of pride and unbelief,
of failure to find thy mind in thy Word,
of neglect to seek thee in our daily life.
Our transgressions and short-comings
present us with a list of accusations,
But we bless thee that they will not stand against us,
for all have been laid on Christ;
Go on to subdue our corruptions,
and grant us grace to live above them.
Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind
bring our spirit into subjection,
but do thou rule over us in liberty and power.
we thank thee that many of our prayers have been refused?
we have asked amiss and do not have,
we have prayed from lusts and been rejected,
we have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness.
Go on with thy patient work,
answering ?no? to our wrongful prayers, and fitting us to accept it.
Purge us from every false desire,
every base aspiration,
everything contrary to thy rule.
we thank thee for thy wisdom and thy love,
for all the acts of discipline to which we are subject,
for sometimes putting us into the furnace
to refine our gold and remove our dross.
No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin.
If thou shouldst give us choice to live in pleasure and keep our sins,
or to have them burnt away with trial,
give us sanctified affliction.
Deliver us from every evil habit,
every accretion of former sins,
everything that dims the brightness of thy grace in us,
everything that prevents us taking delight in thee.
Then we shall bless thee, God of Jeshurun, for helping us to be upright.
CONTRITION
O THOU MOST HIGH,
It becomes us to be low in thy presence.
we are nothing compared with thee;
we possess not the rank and power of angels,
but thou hast made us what we are,
and placed us where we are;
help us to acquiesce in thy sovereign pleasure.
we thank thee that in the embryo state of our endless being
we are capable by grace of improvement;
that we can bear thy image,
not by submissiveness, but by design,
and can work with thee and advance thy cause and glory.
But, alas, the crown has fallen from our head:
we have sinned;
we are alien to thee;
my head is deceitful and wicked,
my mind an enemy to thy law.
Yet, in our lostness thou hast laid help on the Mighty One
and he comes between to put his hands on us both,
my Umpire, Daysman, Mediator,
whose blood is our peace,
whose righteousness is our strength,
whose condemnation is our freedom,
whose Spirit is our power,
whose heaven is our heritage.
Grant that we may feel more the strength of thy grace
in subduing the evil of our nature,
in loosing us from the present evil world,
in supporting us under the trials of life,
in enabling us to abide with thee in our valleys,
in exercising us to have a conscience void of offence
before thee and before men.
In all our affairs may we distinguish between duty and anxiety,
and may our character and not our circumstances chiefly engage us.
HUMILIATION
SOVEREIGN LORD,
When clouds of darkness, atheism, and unbelief come to us,
we see thy purpose of love
in withdrawing the Spirit that we might prize him more,
in chastening us for our confidence in past successes,
that our wound of secret godlessness might be cured.
Help us to humble ourself before thee
by seeing the vanity of honour as a conceit of men?s minds,
as standing between us and thee;
by seeing that thy will must alone be done,
as much in denying as in giving spiritual enjoyments;
by seeing that our heart is nothing but evil,
mind, mouth, life void of thee;
by seeing that sin and Satan are allowed power in us
that we might know our sin, be humbled, and gain strength thereby;
by seeing that unbelief shuts thee from us,
so that we sense not thy majesty, power, mercy, or love.
Then possess us, for thou only art good and worthy.
Thou dost not play in convincing us of sin,
Satan did not play in tempting us to it,
we do not play when we sink in deep mire,
for sin is no game, no toy, no bauble;
Let us never forget that the heinousness of sin
lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed,
as in the greatness of the Person sinned against.
When we are afraid of evils to come, comfort us, by showing us
that in ourself we are a dying, condemned wretch,
but that in Christ we are reconciled, made alive, and satisfied;
that we are feeble and unable to do any good,
but that in him we can do all things;
that what we now have in Christ is mine in part,
but shortly we shall have it perfectly in heaven.
MORTIFICATION
O DIVINE LAWGIVER,
we take shame to ourself
for open violations to thy law,
for our secret faults,
my omissions of duty,
my unprofitable attendance upon means of grace,
my carnality in worshipping thee,
and all the sins of our holy things.
Our iniquities are increased over our head:
Our trespasses are known in the heavens,
and there Christ is gone also,
my Advocate with the Father,
my propitiation for sins,
and we hear his word of peace.
At present it is a day of small things with us,
we have light enough to see our darkness,
sensibility enough to feel the hardness of our heart,
spirituality enough to mourn our want of a heavenly mind;
but we might have had more,
we ought to have had more,
we have never been straitened in thee,
thou hast always placed before us an infinite fullness,
and we have not taken it.
we confess and bewail our deficiencies and backslidings:
we mourn our numberless failures,
my incorrigibility under rebukes,
my want of profiting under ordinances of mercy,
my neglect of opportunities for usefulness.
It is not with us as in months past;
O recall us to thyself, and enable us to feel our first love.
May our improvements correspond with our privileges,
May our will accept the decisions of our judgement,
my choice be that which conscience approves,
and may we never condemn ourself in the things we allow!
PURIFICATION
LORD JESUS,
we sin?
Grant that we may never cease grieving because of it,
never be content with ourself,
never think we can reach a point of perfection.
Kill our envy, command our tongue, trample down self.
Give us grace to be holy, kind, gentle, pure, peaceable,
to live for thee and not for self,
to copy thy words, acts, spirit,
to be transformed into thy likeness,
to be consecrated wholly to thee,
to live entirely to thy glory.
Deliver us from attachment to things unclean,
from wrong associations,
from the predominance of evil passions,
from the sugar of sin as well as its gall,
that with self-loathing, deep contrition, earnest heart searching
we may come to thee,
cast ourself on thee,
trust in thee,
cry to thee,
be delivered by thee.
O God, the Eternal All, help us to know that
all things are shadows, but thou art substance,
all things are quicksands, but thou art mountain,
all things are shifting, but thou art anchor,
all things are ignorance, but thou art wisdom.
If our life is to be a crucible amid burning heat, so be it,
but do thou sit at the furnace mouth
to watch the ore that nothing be lost.
If we sin wilfully, grievously, tormentedly, in grace
take away our mourning and give us music;
remove our sackcloth and clothe us with beauty;
still our sighs and fill our mouth with song,
then give us summer weather as a Christian.
REPROOFS
O MERCIFUL GOD,
When we hear of disagreeable things amongst Christians,
it brings an additional weight and burden on our spirit;
we come to thee in our distress and make lamentable complaint;
Teach us how to take reproofs from friends,
even though we think we do not deserve them;
Use them to make us tenderly afraid of sin,
more jealous over ourself,
more concerned to keep heart and life unblameable;
Cause them to help us to reflect on our want of spirituality,
to abhor ourself,
to look upon ourself as unworthy,
and make them beneficial to our soul.
May all thy people know how little, mean, and vile we are,
that they may see we are nothing,
less than nothing,
to be accounted nothing,
that so they may pray for us aright,
and have not the least dependence upon us.
It is sweet to be nothing and have nothing,
and to be fed with crumbs from thy hands.
Blessed be thy Name for anything that life brings.
How do poor souls live who have not thee,
or when helpless have no God to go to,
who feel not the constraining force of thy love,
and the sweetness of communion?
O how admirably dost thou captivate the soul,
making all desires and affections centre on thee!
Give us such vivacity in religion,
that we may be able to take all reproofs from other men
as from thy hands,
and glorify thee for them
from a sense of thy beneficent love
and of our need to have our pride destroyed.
THE BROKEN HEART
O LORD,
No day of our life has passed that has not proved us guilty in thy sight.
Prayers have been uttered from a prayerless heart;
Praise has been often praiseless sound;
Our best services are filthy rags.
Blessed Jesus, let us find a covert in thy appeasing wounds.
Though our sins rise to heaven thy merits soar above them;
Though unrighteousness weighs us down to hell,
thy righteousness exalts us to thy throne.
All things in us call for our rejection,
All things in thee plead our acceptance.
we appeal from the throne of perfect justice
to thy throne of boundless grace.
Grant us to hear thy voice assuring us:
that by thy stripes we are healed,
that thou wast bruised for our iniquities,
that thou hast been made sin for us
that we might be righteous in thee,
that our grievous sins, our manifold sins, are all forgiven,
buried in the ocean of thy concealing blood.
we are guilty, but pardoned,
lost, but saved,
wandering, but found,
sinning, but cleansed.
Give us perpetual broken-heartedness,
Keep us always clinging to thy cross,
Flood us every moment with descending grace,
Open to us the springs of divine knowledge,
sparkling like crystal,
flowing clear and unsullied
through our wilderness of life.
SELF-NOUGHTING
O LORD,
Help us to approach thee
with becoming conception of thy nature, relations and designs.
Thou inhabitest eternity, and
my life is nothing before thee;
Thou dwellest in the highest heaven and this cannot contain thee;
we live in a house of clay.
Thy power is almighty;
we are crushed before the moth.
Thy understanding is infinite;
we know nothing as we ought to know.
Thou canst not behold evil;
we are vile.
In our ignorance, weakness, fears, depressions,
may thy Spirit help our infirmities
with supplies of wisdom, strength and comfort.
Let us faithfully study our character,
be willing to bring it to light,
observe ourself in our trials,
judge the reality and degree of our grace,
consider how we have been ensnared or overcome.
Grant that we may never trust our heart,
depend upon any past experiences,
magnify any present resolutions,
but be strong in the grace of Jesus:
that we may know how to obtain relief from a guilty conscience
without feeling reconciled to our imperfections.
Sustain us under our trials and improve them to us;
give us grace to rest in thee,
and assure us of deliverance.
May we always combine thy majesty with thy mercy,
and connect thy goodness with thy greatness.
Then shall our heart always rejoice in praises to thee.
SHORTCOMINGS
O LIVING GOD,
we bless thee
that we see the worst of our heart as well as the best of it,
that we can sorrow for those sins that carry us from thee,
that it is thy deep and dear mercy to threaten punishment
so that we may return, pray, live.
Our sin is to look on our faults and be discouraged,
or to look on our good and be puffed up.
we fall short of thy glory every day by spending hours unprofitably,
by thinking that the things we do are good,
when they are not done to thy end,
nor spring from the rules of thy Word.
Our sin is to fear what never will be;
we forget to submit to thy will, and fail to be quiet there.
But Scripture teaches us that thy active will
reveals a steadfast purpose on our behalf,
and this quietens our soul, and makes us love thee.
Keep us always in the understanding
that saints mourn more for sin than other men,
for when they see how great is thy wrath against sin,
and how Christ?s death alone pacifies that wrath,
that makes them mourn the more.
Help us to see that although we are in the wilderness
it is not all briars and barrenness.
we have bread from heaven,
streams from the rock,
light by day,
fire by night,
thy dwelling place and thy mercy seat.
we are sometimes discouraged by the way,
but though winding and trying it is safe and short;
Death dismays us, but our great high priest stands in its waters,
and will open us a passage,
and beyond is a better country.
While we live let our life be exemplary,
When we die may our end be peace.
BACKSLIDING
O LORD,
When the world?s unbelievers reject thee,
and are so forsaken by thee that thou callest them no more,
it is to thine own thou dost turn,
for in such seasons of general apostasy
they in some measure backslide with the world.
O how free is thy grace
that reminds them of the danger that confronts them
and urges them to persevere in adherence to thyself!
we bless thee that those who turn aside
may return to thee immediately,
and be welcomed without anything to commend them,
notwithstanding all their former backslidings.
we confess that this is suited to our case, for of late
we have found great want,
and lack of apprehension of divine grace;
we have been greatly distressed of soul
because we did not suitably come to the fountain
that purges away all sin;
we have laboured too much for spiritual life,
peace of conscience, progressive holiness,
in our own strength.
we beg thee, show us the arm of all might;
Give us to believe
that thou canst do for us more than we ask or think, and
that, though we backslide, thy love will never let us go,
but will draw us back to thee with everlasting cords;
that thou dost provide grace in the wilderness,
and canst bring us out, leaning on the arm of our Beloved;
that thou canst cause us to walk with him
by the rivers of waters in a straight way,
wherein we shall not stumble.
Keep us solemn,
devout,
faithful,
resting on free grace
for assistance, acceptance, and peace of conscience.
SINS
MERCIFUL LORD,
Pardon all our sins of this day, week, year,
all the sins of our life,
sins of early, middle, and advanced years,
of omission and commission,
of morose, peevish and angry tempers,
of lip, life and walk,
of hard-heartedness, unbelief, presumption, pride,
of unfaithfulness to the souls of men,
of want of bold decision in the cause of Christ,
of deficiency in outspoken zeal for his glory,
of bringing dishonour upon thy great name,
of deception, injustice, untruthfulness
in our dealings with others,
of impurity in thought, word and deed,
of covetousness, which is idolatry,
of substance unduly hoarded, improvidently squandered,
not consecrated to the glory of thee, the great Giver;
sins in private and in the family,
in study and recreation, in the busy haunts of men,
in the study of thy Word and in the neglect of it,
in prayer irreverently offered and coldly withheld,
in time misspent,
in yielding to Satan?s wiles,
in opening our heart to his temptations,
in being unwatchful when we know him nigh,
in quenching the Holy Spirit;
sins against light and knowledge,
against conscience and the restraints of thy Spirit,
against the law of eternal love.
Pardon all our sins, known and unknown,
felt and unfelt,
confessed and not confessed,
remembered or forgotten.
Good Lord, hear;
and hearing, forgive.
PRIDE
O THOU TERRIBLE MEEK,
Let not pride swell our heart.
Our nature is the mire beneath our feet,
the dust to which we shall return.
In body we surpass not the meanest reptile;
Whatever difference of form and intellect is mine
is a free grant of thy goodness;
Every faculty of mind and body is thy undeserved gift.
Low as we are as a creature, we are lower as a sinner;
we have trampled thy law times without number;
Sin?s deformity is stamped upon us,
darkens our brow,
touches us with corruption:
How can we flaunt ourself proudly?
Lowest abasement is our due place,
for we are less than nothing before thee.
Help us to see ourself in thy sight,
then pride must wither, decay, die, perish.
Humble our heart before thee,
and replenish it with thy choicest gifts.
As water rests not on barren hill summits,
but flows down to fertilize lowest vales,
So make us the lowest of the lowly,
that our spiritual riches may exceedingly abound.
When we leave duties undone,
may condemning thought strip us of pride,
deepen in us devotion to thy service,
and quicken us to more watchful care.
When we are tempted to think highly of ourself,
grant us to see the wily power of our spiritual enemy;
Help us to stand with wary eye on the watch-tower of faith,
and to cling with determined grasp to our humble Lord;
If we fall let us hide ourself in our Redeemer?s righteousness,
and when we escape, may we ascribe all deliverance to thy grace.
Keep us humble, meek, lowly.
PASSION
HOLY LORD,
How little repentance there is in the world,
and how many sins we have to repent of!
we are troubled for our sin of passion,
for the shame and horror of it as an evil;
we purpose to give way to it no more,
and come to thee for strength to that end.
Most men give vent to anger frequently and are overcome by it,
bringing many excuses and extenuations for it,
as that it occurs suddenly,
that they delight not in it,
that they are sorry afterwards,
that godly men commit it.
They thus seek peace after outbursts of passion
by entire forgetfulness of it,
or, by skinning over their wound, they hope for healing
without peace in Christ?s blood.
Lord God, we know that our sudden anger arises when things cross us,
and we desire to please only ourself, not Christ;
There is in all wrongs and crosses a double cross?
that which crosses us,
and that which crosses thee;
In all good things there is somewhat that pleases us,
somewhat that pleases thee;
Our sin is that our heart is pleased or troubled
as things please or trouble us,
without our having a regard to Christ;
Thus, we are like Eli,
the subject of punishment for not rebuking sin;
whereas we should humbly confess our sin
and fly to the blood of Christ for pardon and peace.
Give us, then, repentance,
true brokenness,
lasting contrition,
for these things thou wilt not despise in spite of our sin.
PENITENCE
O LORD OF GRACE,
we have been hasty and short in private prayer,
O quicken our conscience to feel this folly,
to bewail this ingratitude;
Our first sin of the day leads into others,
and it is just that thou shouldst withdraw thy presence
from one who waited carelessly on thee.
Keep us at all times from robbing thee,
and from depriving our soul of thy due worship;
Let us never forget
that we have an eternal duty to love, honour and obey thee,
that thou art infinitely worthy of such;
that if we fail to glorify thee
we are guilty of infinite evil that merits infinite punishment,
for sin is the violation of an infinite obligation.
O forgive us if we have dishonoured thee,
melt our heart,
heal our backslidings, and
open an intercourse of love.
When the fire of thy compassion warms our inward man,
and the outpourings of thy Spirit fill our soul,
then we feelingly wonder at our own depravity,
and deeply abhor ourself;
then thy grace is a powerful incentive to repentance,
and an irresistible motive to inward holiness.
May we never forget that thou hast our heart in thy hands.
Apply to it the merits of Christ?s atoning blood whenever we sin.
Let thy mercies draw us to thyself.
Wean us from all evil, mortify us to the world,
and make us ready for our departure hence,
animated by the humiliations of penitential love.
Our soul is often a chariot without wheels,
clogged and hindered in sin?s miry clay;
Mount it on eagle?s wings and cause it to soar upward to thyself.
MAN A NOTHING
O LORD, we are A SHELL FULL OF DUST,
but animated with an invisible rational soul
and made anew by an unseen power of grace;
Yet we are no rare object of valuable price,
but one that has nothing and is nothing,
although chosen of thee from eternity,
given to Christ, and born again;
we are deeply convinced of the evil and misery of a sinful state,
of the vanity of creatures,
but also of the sufficiency of Christ.
When thou wouldst guide us we control ourself,
When thou wouldst be sovereign we rule ourself.
When thou wouldst take care of us we suffice ourself.
When we should depend on thy providings we supply ourself,
When we should submit to thy providence we follow our will,
When we should study, love, honour, trust thee, we serve ourself;
we fault and correct thy laws to suit ourself;
Instead of thee we look to a man?s approbation,
and are by nature an idolater.
Lord, it is our chief design to bring our heart back to thee.
Convince us that we cannot be our own God, or make ourself happy,
nor our own Christ to restore our joy,
nor our own Spirit to teach, guide, rule us.
Help us to see that grace does this by providential affliction,
for when our credit is good thou dost cast us lower,
when riches are our idol thou dost wing them away,
when pleasure is our all thou dost turn it into bitterness.
Take away our roving eye, curious ear, greedy appetite, lustful heart;
Show us that none of these things
can heal a wounded conscience,
or support a tottering frame,
or uphold a departing spirit.
Then take us to the cross and leave us there.
A CRY FOR DELIVERANCE
HEAVENLY FATHER, SAVE us ENTIRELY FROM SIN.
we know we are righteous through the righteousness of another,
but we pant and pine for likeness to thyself;
we are thy child and should bear thy image;
Enable us to recognize our death unto sin;
When it tempts us may we be deaf unto its voice.
Deliver us from the invasion as well as the dominion of sin.
Grant us to walk as Christ walked,
to live in the newness of his life,
the life of love,
the life of faith,
the life of holiness.
we abhor our body of death,
its indolence, envy, meanness, pride.
Forgive, and kill these vices,
have mercy on our unbelief,
on our corrupt and wandering heart.
When thy blessings come we begin to idolize them,
and set our affection on some beloved object ?
children, friends, wealth, honour;
Cleanse this spiritual adultery and give us chastity;
close our heart to all but thee.
Sin is our greatest curse;
Let thy victory be apparent to our consciousness,
and displayed in our life.
Help us to be always devoted, confident, obedient,
resigned, childlike in our trust of thee,
to love thee with soul, body, mind, strength,
to love our fellow-man as we love ourself,
to be saved from unregenerate temper, hard thoughts,
slanderous words, meanness, unkind manners,
to master our tongue and keep the door of our lips.
Fill us with grace daily,
that our life be a fountain of sweet water.
MERCY
GOD OF THE PUBLICAN,
Be merciful to us a sinner;
this we are by nature and practice,
this thy Word proclaims us to be,
this we hope we feel ourself to be;
Yet thou hast not left us to despair,
for there is no ?peradventure? in thy grace;
we have all the assurance we need
that with thee is plenteous redemption.
In spite of the number and heinousness of our sins
thou hast given us a token for good;
The golden sceptre is held out,
and thou hast said ?Touch it and live?.
May we encourage ourself by a sense of thy all-sufficiency,
by faith in thy promises,
by views of the experience of others.
To that dear refuge in which so many have sheltered from every storm
may we repair,
In that fountain always freely open for sin
may we be cleansed from every defilement.
Sin is that abominable thing which thy soul hates,
and this alone separates thee and us.
Thou canst not contradict the essential perfections of thy nature;
Thou canst not make us happy with thyself,
till thou hast made us holy like thyself.
O holy God, make us such a creature as thou canst take pleasure in,
and such a being that we can take pleasure in thee.
May we consent to and delight in thy law after the inner man,
never complain over the strictness of thy demands,
but mourn over our want of conformity to them;
never question thy commandments,
but esteem them to be right.
By thy Spirit within us may our practice spring from principle, and
my dispositions be conformable with duty.
CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION
O LORD,
we marvel that thou shouldst become incarnate,
be crucified, dead, and buried.
The sepulchre calls forth our adoring wonder,
for it is empty and thou art risen;
the four-fold gospel attests it,
the living witnesses prove it,
my heart?s experience knows it.
Give us to die with thee that we may rise to new life,
for we wish to be as dead and buried to sin,
to selfishness, to the world;
that we might not hear the voice of the charmer,
and might be delivered from his lusts.
O Lord, there is much ill about us ? crucify it,
much flesh within us ? mortify it.
Purge us from selfishness,
the fear of man,
the love of approbation,
the shame of being thought old-fashioned,
the desire to be cultivated or modern.
Let us reckon our old life dead because of crucifixion,
and never feed it as a living thing.
Grant us to stand with our dying Saviour,
to be content to be rejected,
to be willing to take up unpopular truths,
and to hold fast despised teachings until death.
Help us to be resolute and Christ-contained.
Never let us wander from the path of obedience to thy will.
Strengthen us for the battles ahead.
Give us courage for all the trials, and grace for all the joys.
Help us to be a holy, happy person,
free from every wrong desire,
from everything contrary to thy mind.
Grant us more and more of the resurrection life:
may it rule us,
may we walk in its power, and be strengthened through its influence.
NEW BEGINNING
INCOMPREHENSIBLE, GREAT, AND GLORIOUS GOD,
we adore thee and abase ourself.
we approach thee mindful that we are less than nothing,
a creature worse than nothing.
Our thoughts are not screened from thy gaze.
Our secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance.
Enable us to remember that blood which cleanseth all sin,
to believe in that grace which subdues all iniquities,
to resign ourself to that agency which can deliver us
from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
Thou hast begun a good work in us
and canst alone continue and complete it.
Give us an increasing conviction of our tendency to err,
and of our exposure to sin.
Help us to feel more of the purifying, softening influence of religion,
its compassion, love, pity, courtesy,
and employ us as thy instrument in blessing others.
Give us to distinguish
between the mere form of godliness and its power,
between life and a name to live,
between guile and truth,
between hypocrisy and a religion that will bear thy eye.
If we are not right, set us right, keep us right;
And may we at last come to thy house in peace.
RELIANCE
MY FATHER,
When thou art angry towards us for our wrongs
we try to pacify thee by abstaining from future sin;
But teach us that we cannot satisfy thy law,
that this effort is a resting in our righteousness,
that only Christ?s righteousness,
ready made, already finished,
is fit for that purpose;
that thy chastising us for our sin
is not that we should try to reform, but only
that we may be more humbled, afflicted, and
separated from sin, by being reconciled,
and made righteous in Christ by faith;
that a sense of our sufficiency and ability in him
is one means of our being immovable;
that we can never be so by resting on our own faith,
but by trusting in thee as our only support, by faith;
that if we cast away our faith we cast away thee,
for by faith we apprehend thee,
and as thou art very precious,
so is our faith very precious to us;
that we fall short of the purity thou requirest,
because in thinking we are holy
we do not seek holiness,
or, believing we are impotent, we do no more.
Humble us for not being as holy as we should be,
or as holy as we might be through Christ,
for thou art all,
and to possess thee is to possess all.
But to make the creature something
is to make it stand between thee and us,
so that we do not walk humbly and holily.
Lord, forgive us for this.

4. Needs and Devotions
NEED OF GRACE
O LORD,
Thou knowest our great unfitness for service,
my present deadness,
my inability to do anything for thy glory,
my distressing coldness of heart.
we are weak, ignorant, unprofitable,
and loathe and abhor ourself.
we are at a loss to know what thou wouldest have us do,
for we feel amazingly deserted by thee,
and sense thy presence so little;
Thou makest us possess the sins of our youth,
and the dreadful sin of our nature,
so that we feel all sin,
we cannot think or act but every motion is sin.
Return again with showers of converting grace
to a poor gospel-abusing sinner.
Help our soul to breathe after holiness,
after a constant devotedness to thee,
after growth in grace more abundantly every day.
O Lord, we are lost in the pursuit of this blessedness,
and are ready to sink because we fall short of our desire;
Help us to hold out a little longer,
until the happy hour of deliverance comes,
for we cannot lift our soul to thee
if thou of thy goodness bring us not nigh.
Help us to be diffident, watchful, tender,
lest we offend our blessed Friend
in thought and behaviour;
we confide in thee and lean upon thee,
and need thee at all times to assist and lead us.
O that all our distresses and apprehensions
might prove but Christ?s school
to make us fit for greater service
by teaching us the great lesson of humility.
CONFLICT
O LORD GOD,
Thou art our protecting arm,
fortress, refuge, shield, buckler.
Fight for us and our foes must flee;
Uphold us and we cannot fall;
Strengthen us and we stand unmoved, unmoveable;
Equip us and we shall receive no wound;
Stand by us and Satan will depart;
Anoint our lips with a song of salvation
and we shall shout thy victory;
Give us abhorrence of all evil,
as a vile monster that defies thy law,
casts off thy yoke,
defiles our nature,
spreads misery.
Teach us to look to Jesus on his cross
and so to know sin?s loathsomeness in thy sight.
There is no pardon but through thy Son?s death,
no cleansing but in his precious blood,
no atonement but his to expiate evil.
Show us the shame, the agony, the bruises of incarnate God,
that we may read boundless guilt in the boundless price;
May we discern the deadly viper in its real malignity,
tear it with holy indignation from our breast,
resolutely turn from its every snare,
refuse to hold polluting dalliance with it.
Blessed Lord Jesus, at thy cross
may we be taught the awful miseries from which we are saved,
ponder what the word ?lost? implies,
see the fires of eternal destruction;
Then may we cling more closely to thy broken self,
adhere to thee with firmer faith,
be devoted to thee with total being,
detest sin as strongly as thy love to us is strong,
And may holiness be the atmosphere in which we live.
PERIL
SOVEREIGN COMMANDER OF THE UNIVERSE,
we are sadly harassed by doubts, fears, unbelief,
in a felt spiritual darkness.
Our heart is full of evil surmisings and disquietude,
and we cannot act faith at all.
Our heavenly Pilot has disappeared,
and we have lost our hold on the Rock of Ages;
we sink in deep mire beneath storms and waves,
in horror and distress unutterable.
Help us, O Lord,
to throw ourself absolutely and wholly on thee,
for better, for worse, without comfort, and all but hopeless.
Give us peace of soul, confidence, enlargement of mind,
morning joy that comes after night heaviness;
Water our soul richly with divine blessings;
Grant that we may welcome thy humbling in private
so that we might enjoy thee in public;
Give us a mountain top as high as the valley is low.
Thy grace can melt the worst sinner, and we are as vile as he;
Yet thou hast made us a monument of mercy,
a trophy of redeeming power;
In our distress let us not forget this.
All-wise God,
Thy never-failing providence orders every event,
sweetens every fear,
reveals evil?s presence lurking in seeming good,
brings real good out of seeming evil,
makes unsatisfactory what we set our heart upon,
to show us what a short-sighted creature we are,
and to teach us to live by faith upon thy blessed self.
Out of our sorrow and night
give us the name Naphtali??satisfied with favour??
help us to love thee as thy child,
and to walk worthy of our heavenly pedigree.


NEED OF JESUS
LORD JESUS,
we are blind, be thou our light,
ignorant, be thou our wisdom,
self-willed, be thou our mind.
Open our ear to grasp quickly thy Spirit?s voice,
and delightfully run after his beckoning hand;
Melt our conscience that no hardness remain,
make it alive to evil?s slightest touch;
When Satan approaches may we flee to thy wounds,
and there cease to tremble at all alarms.
Be our good shepherd to lead us into the green pastures of thy Word,
and cause us to lie down beside the rivers of its comforts.
Fill us with peace, that no disquieting worldly gales
may ruffle the calm surface of our soul.
Thy cross was upraised to be our refuge,
Thy blood streamed forth to wash us clean,
Thy death occurred to give us a surety,
Thy name is our property to save us,
By thee all heaven is poured into our heart,
but it is too narrow to comprehend thy love.
we was a stranger, an outcast, a slave, a rebel,
but thy cross has brought us near,
has softened our heart,
has made us thy Father?s child,
has admitted us to thy family,
has made us joint-heir with thyself.
O that we may love thee as thou lovest us,
that we may walk worthy of thee, our Lord,
that we may reflect the image of heaven?s first-born.
May we always see thy beauty with the clear eye of faith,
and feel the power of thy Spirit in our heart,
for unless he move mightily in us
no inward fire will be kindled.
WEAKNESSES
O SPIRIT OF GOD,
Help our infirmities;
When we are pressed down with a load of sorrow,
perplexed and knowing not what to do,
slandered and persecuted,
made to feel the weight of the cross,
help us, we pray thee.
If thou seest in us any wrong thing encouraged,
any evil desire cherished,
any delight that is not thy delight,
any habit that grieves thee,
any nest of sin in our heart,
then grant us the kiss of thy forgiveness,
and teach our feet to walk the way of thy commandments.
Deliver us from carking care,
and make us a happy, holy person;
Help us to walk the separated life with firm and brave step,
and to wrestle successfully against weakness;
Teach us to laud, adore, and magnify thee,
with the music of heaven,
And make us a perfume of praiseful gratitude to thee.
we do not crouch at thy feet as a slave before a tyrant,
but exult before thee as a son with a father.
Give us power to live as thy child in all our actions,
and to exercise sonship by conquering self.
Preserve us from the intoxication that comes of prosperity;
Sober us when we are glad with a joy that comes not from thee.
Lead us safely on to the eternal kingdom,
not asking whether the road be rough or smooth.
we request only to see the face of him we love,
to be content with bread to eat,
with raiment to put on,
if we can be brought to thy house in peace.
THE INFINITE AND THE FINITE
THOU GREAT we are,
Fill our mind with elevation and grandeur at the thought of a Being
with whom one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day,
A mighty God, who, amidst the lapse of worlds,
and the revolutions of empires,
feels no variableness,
but is glorious in immortality.
May we rejoice that, while men die, the Lord lives;
that, while all creatures are broken reeds,
empty cisterns,
fading flowers,
withering grass,
he is the Rock of Ages, the Fountain of living waters.
Turn our heart from vanity,
from dissatisfactions,
from uncertainties of the present state,
to an eternal interest in Christ.
Let us remember that life is short and unforeseen,
and is only an opportunity for usefulness;
Give us a holy avarice to redeem the time,
to awake at every call to charity and piety,
so that we may feed the hungry,
clothe the naked,
instruct the ignorant,
reclaim the vicious,
forgive the offender,
diffuse the gospel,
show neighbourly love to all.
Let us live a life of self-distrust,
dependence on thyself,
mortification,
crucifixion,
prayer.
CHOICES
O GOD,
Though we are allowed to approach thee
we are not unmindful of our sins,
we do not deny our guilt,
we confess our wickedness, and earnestly plead forgiveness.
May we with Moses choose affliction
rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin.
Help us to place ourself always under thy guiding and guardian care,
to take firmer hold of the sure covenant that binds us to thee,
to feel more of the purifying, dignifying,
softening influence of the religion we profess,
to have more compassion, love, pity, courtesy,
to deem it an honour to be employed by thee
as an instrument in thy hands,
ready to seize every opportunity of usefulness,
and willing to offer all our talents to thy service.
Thou hast done for us all things well,
hast remembered, distinguished, indulged us.
All our desires have not been gratified,
but thy love denied them to us
when fulfilment of our wishes would have proved our ruin or injury.
Our trials have been fewer than our sins,
and when we have kissed the rod it has fallen from thy hands.
Thou hast often wiped away our tears,
restored peace to our mourning heart,
chastened us for our profit.
All thy work for us is perfect,
and we praise thee.
DESIRES
O THOU THAT HEAREST PRAYER,
Teach us to pray.
we confess that in religious exercises
the language of our lips and the feelings of our heart
have not always agreed,
that we have frequently taken carelessly upon our tongue
a name never pronounced above
without reverence and humility,
that we have often desired things which would have injured us,
that we have depreciated some of our chief mercies,
that we have erred both on the side of our hopes
and also of our fears,
that we are unfit to choose for ourself,
for it is not in us to direct our steps.
Let thy Spirit help our infirmities,
for we know not what to pray for as we ought.
Let him produce in us wise desires by which we may ask right things,
then we shall know thou hearest us.
May we never be importunate for temporal blessings,
but always refer them to thy fatherly goodness,
for thou knowest what we need before we ask;
May we never think we prosper unless our soul prospers,
or that we are rich unless rich toward thee,
or that we are wise unless wise unto salvation.
May we seek first thy kingdom and its righteousness.
May we value things in relation to eternity.
May our spiritual welfare be our chief solicitude.
May we be poor, afflicted, despised and have thy blessing,
rather than be successful in enterprise,
or have more than our heart can wish,
or be admired by our fellow-men,
if thereby these things make us forget thee.
May we regard the world as dreams, lies, vanities, vexation of spirit,
and desire to depart from it.
And may we seek our happiness in thy favour, image, presence, service.
FAITH AND THE WORLD
O LORD,
The world is artful to entrap,
approaches in fascinating guise,
extends many a gilded bait,
presents many a charming face.
Let our faith scan every painted bauble,
and escape every bewitching snare
in a victory that overcomes all things.
In our duties give us firmness, energy, zeal,
devotion to thy cause,
courage in thy name,
love as a working grace,
and all commensurate with our trust.
Let faith stride forth in giant power,
and love respond with energy in every act.
we often mourn the absence of our beloved Lord
whose smile makes earth a paradise,
whose voice is sweetest music,
whose presence gives all graces strength.
But by unbelief we often keep him outside our door.
Let faith give entrance that he may abide with us for ever.
Thy Word is full of promises,
flowers of sweet fragrance,
fruit of refreshing flavour
when culled by faith.
May we be made rich in its riches,
be strong in its power,
be happy in its joy,
abide in its sweetness,
feast on its preciousness,
draw vigour from its manna.
Lord, increase our faith.
JOURNEYING ON
LORD OF THE CLOUD AND FIRE,
we are a stranger, with a stranger?s indifference;
Our hands hold a pilgrim?s staff,
Our march is Zionward,
Our eyes are toward the coming of the Lord,
Our heart is in thy hands without reserve.
Thou hast created it,
redeemed it,
renewed it,
captured it,
conquered it.
Keep from it every opposing foe,
crush in it every rebel lust,
mortify every treacherous passion,
annihilate every earthborn desire.
All faculties of our being vibrate to thy touch;
we love thee with soul, mind, body, strength,
might, spirit, affection, will,
desire, intellect, understanding.
Thou art the very perfection of all perfections;
All intellect is derived from thee;
Our scanty rivulets flow from thy unfathomable fountain.
Compared with thee the sun is darkness,
all beauty deformity,
all wisdom folly,
the best goodness faulty.
Thou art worthy of an adoration greater than our dull heart can yield;
Invigorate our love that it may rise worthily to thee,
tightly entwine itself round thee,
be allured by thee.
Then shall our walk be endless praise.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
O THOU MOST HIGH,
In the way of thy appointment we are waiting for thee,
Our desire is to thy name,
Our mind to remembrance of thee.
we are a sinner, but not insensible of our state.
Our iniquities are great and numberless,
but thou art adequate to our relief,
for thou art rich in mercy;
the blood of thy Son can cleanse from all sin;
the agency of thy Spirit can subdue our most powerful lusts.
Give us a tender, wakeful conscience
that can smite and torment us when we sin.
May we be consistent in conversation and conduct,
the same alone as in company,
in prosperity and adversity,
accepting all thy commandments as right,
and hating every false way.
May we never be satisfied with our present spiritual progress,
but to faith add virtue, knowledge, temperance,
godliness, brotherly kindness, charity.
May we never neglect
what is necessary to constitute Christian character,
and needful to complete it.
May we cultivate the expedient,
develop the lovely,
adorn the gospel,
recommend the religion of Jesus,
accommodate ourself to thy providence.
Keep us from sinking or sinning in the evil day;
Help us to carry into ordinary life portions of divine truth
and use them on suitable occasions, so that
its doctrines may inform,
its warnings caution,
its rules guide,
its promises comfort us.
VOYAGE
O LORD OF THE OCEANS,
Our little bark sails on a restless sea,
Grant that Jesus may sit at the helm and steer us safely;
Suffer no adverse currents to divert our heavenward course;
Let not our faith be wrecked amid storms and shoals;
Bring us to harbour with flying pennants,
hull unbreached,
cargo unspoiled.
we ask great things,
expect great things,
shall receive great things.
we venture on thee wholly, fully,
my wind, sunshine, anchor, defence.
The voyage is long, the waves high, the storms pitiless,
but our helm is held steady,
thy Word secures safe passage,
thy grace wafts us onward,
my haven is guaranteed.
This day will bring us nearer home,
Grant us holy consistency in every transaction,
my peace flowing as a running tide,
my righteousness as every chasing wave.
Help us to live circumspectly,
with skill to convert every care into prayer,
Halo our path with gentleness and love,
smooth every asperity of temper;
let us not forget how easy it is to occasion grief;
may we strive to bind up every wound,
and pour oil on all troubled waters.
May the world this day be happier and better because we live.
Let our mast before us be the Saviour?s cross,
and every oncoming wave the fountain in his side.
Help us, protect us in the moving sea
until we reach the shore of unceasing praise.
YEAR?S END
O LOVE BEYOND COMPARE,
Thou art good when thou givest,
when thou takest away,
when the sun shines upon us,
when night gathers over us.
Thou hast loved us before the foundation of the world,
and in love didst redeem our soul;
Thou dost love us still,
in spite of our hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.
Thy goodness has been with us during another year,
leading us through a twisting wilderness,
in retreat helping us to advance,
when beaten back making sure headway.
Thy goodness will be with us in the year ahead;
we hoist sail and draw up anchor,
with thee as the blessed Pilot of our future as of our past.
we bless thee that thou hast veiled our eyes to the waters ahead.
If thou hast appointed storms of tribulation,
thou wilt be with us in them;
If we have to pass through tempests of persecution and temptation,
we shall not drown;
If we are to die,
we shall see thy face the sooner;
If a painful end is to be our lot,
grant us grace that our faith fail not;
If we are to be cast aside from the service we love,
we can make no stipulation;
Only glorify thyself in us whether in comfort or trial,
as a chosen vessel meet always for thy use.
NEW YEAR
O LORD,
Length of days does not profit us
except the days are passed in thy presence,
in thy service, to thy glory.
Give us a grace that precedes, follows, guides,
sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour,
that we may not be one moment apart from thee,
but may rely on thy Spirit to supply every thought,
speak in every word,
direct every step,
prosper every work,
build up every mote of faith,
and give us a desire to show forth thy praise;
testify thy love,
advance thy kingdom.
we launch our bark on the unknown waters of this year,
with thee, O Father, as our harbour,
thee, O Son, at our helm,
thee, O Holy Spirit, filling our sails.
Guide us to heaven with our loins girt,
my lamp burning,
my ear open to thy calls,
my heart full of love,
my soul free.
Give us thy grace to sanctify us,
thy comforts to cheer,
thy wisdom to teach,
thy right hand to guide,
thy counsel to instruct,
thy law to judge,
thy presence to stabilize.
May thy fear be our awe,
thy triumphs our joy.
THE FAMILY
O SOVEREIGN LORD,
Thou art the Creator-Father of all men,
for thou hast made and dost support them;
Thou art the special Father of those who know, love and honour thee,
who find thy yoke easy, and
thy burden light,
thy work honourable,
thy commandments glorious.
But how little thy undeserved goodness has affected us!
how imperfectly have we improved our religious privileges!
how negligent have we been in doing good to others!
we are before thee in our trespasses and sins, have mercy on us,
and may thy goodness bring us to repentance.
Help us to hate and forsake every false way,
to be attentive to our condition and character,
to bridle our tongue,
to keep our heart with all diligence,
to watch and pray against temptation,
to mortify sin,
to be concerned for the salvation of others.
O God, we cannot endure to see the destruction of our kindred.
Let those that are united to us in tender ties
be precious in thy sight and devoted to thy glory.
Sanctify and prosper our domestic devotion,
instruction,
discipline,
example,
that our house may be a nursery for heaven,
my church the garden of the Lord,
enriched with trees of righteousness of thy planting,
for thy glory;
Let not those of our family who are amiable, moral, attractive,
fall short of heaven at last;
Grant that the promising appearances of a tender conscience, soft heart,
the alarms and delights of thy Word, be not finally blotted out,
but bring forth judgment unto victory in all whom we love.
CARING LOVE
ALL-SUFFICIENT KING,
When we come into thy presence we see
the glory of thy perfections,
the throne of eternal and universal empire,
the ten thousand times ten thousand who minister to thee.
Impress our mind with the consciousness of thy greatness,
not to drive us from thee
but to inspire us to approach thee;
not to diminish our confidence in thee,
but to lead us to admire thy great condescension.
Thou hast been mindful of us and visited us,
taken charge of us from birth,
cared in all conditions for us,
fed us at thy table,
drawn the curtains of love around us,
given us new mercies every morning.
Suffer us not to forget that we look for yet greater blessings?
a hope beyond the grave,
the earnest and foretastes of immortality,
holiness, wisdom, strength, peace, joy?
all these thou hast provided for us in Christ.
we grieve to think how insensible we have been
of the claims of thy authority,
and the endearments of thy love;
how little we have credited thy truth,
trusted thy promises,
feared thy threats,
obeyed thy commands,
improved our advantages,
welcomed thy warnings,
responded to thy grace;
but notwithstanding our desert we yet live.
May thy goodness always lead us to repentance,
and thy longsuffering prove our salvation.
DIVINE SUPPORT
THOU ART THE BLESSED GOD,
happy in thyself,
source of happiness in thy creatures,
my Maker, Benefactor, Proprietor, Upholder.
Thou hast produced and sustained us,
supported and indulged us,
saved and kept us;
Thou art in every situation able to meet our needs and miseries.
May we live by thee,
live for thee,
never be satisfied with our Christian progress
but as we resemble Christ;
And may conformity to his principles, temper, and conduct
grow hourly in our life.
Let thy unexampled love constrain us into holy obedience,
and render our duty our delight.
If others deem our faith folly,
my meekness infirmity,
my zeal madness,
my hope delusion,
my actions hypocrisy,
may we rejoice to suffer for thy name.
Keep us walking steadfastly towards the country of everlasting delights,
that paradise-land which is our true inheritance.
Support us by the strength of heaven
that we may never turn back,
or desire false pleasures that wilt and disappear into nothing.
As we pursue our heavenly journey by thy grace
let us be known as a man with no aim
but that of a burning desire for thee,
and the good and salvation of our fellow men.
GRACE ACTIVE
LORD JESUS, GREAT HIGH PRIEST,
Thou hast opened a new and living way
by which a fallen creature can approach thee with acceptance.
Help us to contemplate the dignity of thy Person,
the perfectness of thy sacrifice,
the effectiveness of thy intercession.
O what blessedness accompanies devotion,
when under all the trials that weary us,
the cares that corrode us,
the fears that disturb us,
the infirmities that oppress us,
we can come to thee in our need
and feel peace beyond understanding!
The grace that restores is necessary to preserve,
lead, guard, supply, help us.
And here thy saints encourage our hope;
they were once poor and are now rich,
bound and are now free,
tried and now are victorious.
Every new duty calls for more grace than we now possess,
but not more than is found in thee,
the divine Treasury in whom all fullness dwells.
To thee we repair for grace upon grace,
until every void made by sin be replenished
and we are filled with all thy fullness.
May our desires be enlarged and our hopes emboldened,
that we may honour thee by our entire dependency
and the greatness of our expectation.
Do thou be with us, and prepare us for all
the smiles of prosperity, the frowns of adversity,
the losses of substance, the death of friends,
the days of darkness, the changes of life,
and the last great change of all.
May we find thy grace sufficient for all our needs.
MORNING
COMPASSIONATE LORD,
Thy mercies have brought us to the dawn of another day,
Vain will be its gift unless we grow in grace,
increase in knowledge,
ripen for spiritual harvest.
Let us this day know thee as thou art,
love thee supremely,
serve thee wholly,
admire thee fully.
Through grace let our will respond to thee,
knowing that power to obey is not in us, but
that thy free love alone enables us to serve thee.
Here then is our empty heart,
overflow it with thy choicest gifts;
Here is our blind understanding,
chase away its mists of ignorance.
O ever watchful Shepherd,
lead, guide, tend us this day;
Without thy restraining rod we err and stray;
Hedge up our path lest we wander into unwholesome pleasure,
and drink its poisonous streams;
Direct our feet that we be not entangled in Satan?s secret snares,
nor fall into his hidden traps.
Defend us from assailing foes,
from evil circumstances,
from ourself.
Our adversaries are part and parcel of our nature;
They cling to us as our very skin;
we cannot escape their contact.
In our rising up and sitting down they barnacle us;
They entice with constant baits;
Our enemy is within the citadel;
Come with almighty power and cast him out,
pierce him to death,
and abolish in us every particle of carnal life this day.
MORNING NEEDS
O GOD, THE AUTHOR OF ALL GOOD,
we come to thee for the grace another day will require
for its duties and events.
we step out into a wicked world,
we carry about with us an evil heart,
we know that without thee we can do nothing,
that everything with which we shall be concerned,
however harmless in itself,
may prove an occasion of sin or folly,
unless we are kept by thy power.
Hold thou us up and we shall be safe.
Preserve our understanding from subtilty of error,
my affections from love of idols,
my character from stain of vice,
my profession from every form of evil.
May we engage in nothing in which we cannot implore thy blessing,
and in which we cannot invite thy inspection.
Prosper us in all lawful undertakings,
or prepare us for disappointments;
Give us neither poverty nor riches;
Feed us with food convenient for us,
lest we be full and deny thee
and say, Who is the Lord?
or be poor, and steal, and take thy name in vain.
May every creature be made good to us by prayer and thy will;
Teach us how to use the world, and not abuse it,
to improve our talents,
to redeem our time,
to walk in wisdom toward those without,
to do good to all men,
and especially to our fellow Christians.
And to thee be the glory.
MORNING DEDICATION
ALMIGHTY GOD,
As we cross the threshold of this day
we commit ourself, soul, body, affairs, friends, to thy care;
Watch over, keep, guide, direct, sanctify, bless us.
Incline our heart to thy ways;
Mould us wholly into the image of Jesus, as a potter forms clay;
May our lips be a well-tuned harp to sound thy praise;
Let those around see us living by thy Spirit,
trampling the world underfoot,
unconformed to lying vanities,
transformed by a renewed mind,
clad in the entire armour of God,
shining as a never-dimmed light,
showing holiness in all our doings.
Let no evil this day soil our thoughts, words, hands.
May we travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain.
In needful transactions let our affection be in heaven,
and our love soar upwards in flames of fire,
my gaze fixed on unseen things,
my eyes open to the emptiness, fragility,
mockery of earth and its vanities.
May we view all things in the mirror of eternity,
waiting for the coming of our Lord,
listening for the last trumpet call,
hastening unto the new heaven and earth.
Order this day all our communications according to thy wisdom,
and to the gain of mutual good.
Forbid that we should not be profited or made profitable.
May we speak each word as if our last word,
and walk each step as our final one.
If our life should end today,
let this be our best day.
EVENING PRAYER
O LOVER OF THY PEOPLE,
Thou hast placed our whole being in the hands of Jesus,
my Redeemer, Commander, Husband, Friend,
and carest for us in him.
Keep us holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners;
May we not know the voice of strangers,
but go to him where he is, and follow where he leads.
Thou hast bathed us once for all in the sin-removing fountain,
cleanse us now from this day?s defilement,
from its faults,
deficiencies of virtue,
harmful extremes,
that we may exhibit a perfect character in Jesus.
O Master, who didst wash the disciples? feet,
be very patient with us,
be very condescending to our faults,
go on with us till thy great work in us is completed.
we desire to conquer self in every respect,
to overcome the body with its affections and lusts,
to keep under our flesh,
to guard our manhood from all grosser sins,
to check the refined power of our natural mind,
to live entirely to thy glory,
to be deaf to unmerited censure and the praise of men.
Nothing can hurt our new-born inner man,
it cannot be smitten or die;
Nothing can mar the dominion of thy Spirit within us;
It is enough to have thy approbation and that of our conscience.,
Keep us humble, dependent, supremely joyful,
as calm and quiet as a sucking child,
yet earnest and active.
we wish not so much to do as to be,
and we long to be like Jesus;
If thou dost make us right we shall be right;
Lord, we belong to thee,
make us worthy of thyself.
EVENING PRAISE
GIVER OF ALL,
Another day is ended
and we take our place beneath our great Redeemer?s cross,
where healing streams continually descend,
where balm is poured into every wound,
where we wash anew in the all-cleansing blood,
assured that thou seest in us no spots of sin.
Yet a little while and we shall go to thy home and be no more seen;
Help us to gird up the loins of our mind,
to quicken our step,
to speed as if each moment were our last,
that our life be joy, our death glory.
we thank thee for the temporal blessings of this world?
the refreshing air,
the light of the sun,
the food that renews strength,
the raiment that clothes,
the dwelling that shelters,
the sleep that gives rest,
the starry canopy of night,
the summer breeze,
the flowers? sweetness,
the music of flowing streams,
the happy endearments of family, kindred, friends.
Things animate, things inanimate, minister to our comfort.
Our cup runs over.
Suffer us not to be insensible to these daily mercies.
Thy hand bestows blessings: thy power averts evil.
we bring our tribute of thanks for spiritual graces,
the full warmth of faith,
the cheering presence of thy Spirit,
the strength of thy restraining will,
thy spiking of hell?s artillery.
Blessed be our sovereign Lord!
EVENING RENEWAL
MY FATHER,
If thy mercy had bounds, where would be our refuge from just wrath?
But thy love in Christ is without measure.
Thus, we present ourself to thee
with sins of commission and omission,
against thee, our Father,
against thee, adorable Redeemer,
against thee and thy strivings, O Holy Spirit,
against the dictates of our conscience,
against the precepts of thy Word,
against our neighbours and ourself.
Enter not into judgment with us,
For we plead no righteousness of our own, and have no cloak for iniquity.
Pardon our day dark with evil.
This night we renew our penitence.
Every morning we vow to love thee more fervently,
to serve thee more sincerely,
to be more devoted in our life,
to be wholly thine;
Yet we soon stumble, backslide,
and have to confess our weakness, misery and sin.
But we bless thee
that the finished work of Jesus needs no addition from our doings,
that his oblation is sufficient satisfaction for our sins.
If future days be mine, help us to amend our life,
to hate and abhor evil,
to flee the sins we confess.
Make us more resolute, more watchful, more prayerful.
Let no evil fruit spring from evil seeds our hands have sown;
Let no neighbour be hardened in vanity and folly
by our want of circumspection.
If this day we have been ashamed of Christ and his Word, or have shown
unkindness, malice, envy, lack of love, unadvised speech, hasty temper,
let it be no stumbling block to others, or dishonour to thy Name.
O help us to set an upright example that will ever rebuke vice,
allure to goodness,
and evidence that lovely are the ways of Christ.


5. Holy Aspirations
LONGINGS AFTER GOD
MY DEAR LORD,
we can but tell thee that thou knowest
we long for nothing but thyself,
nothing but holiness,
nothing but union with thy will.
Thou hast given us these desires,
and thou alone canst give us the thing desired.
Our soul longs for communion with thee,
for mortification of indwelling corruption,
especially spiritual pride.
How precious it is
to have a tender sense and clear apprehension
of the mystery of godliness,
of true holiness!
What a blessedness to be like thee
as much as it is possible for a creature to be like its Creator!
Lord, give us more of thy likeness;
Enlarge our soul to contain fullness of holiness;
Engage us to live more for thee.
Help us to be less pleased with our spiritual experiences,
and when we feel at ease after sweet communings,
teach us it is far too little we know and do.
Blessed Lord,
let us climb up near to thee,
and love, and long, and plead, and wrestle with thee,
and pant for deliverance from the body of sin,
for our heart is wandering and lifeless,
and our soul mourns to think it should ever
lose sight of its Beloved.
Wrap our life in divine love,
and keep us ever desiring thee,
always humble and resigned to thy will,
more fixed on thyself,
that we may be more fitted for doing and suffering.
CONSECRATION AND WORSHIP
MY GOD,
we feel it is heaven to please thee,
and to be what thou wouldst have us be.
O that we were holy as thou art holy,
pure as Christ is pure,
perfect as thy Spirit is perfect!
These, we feel, are the best commands in thy Book,
and shall we break them? must we break them?
am we under such a necessity as long as we live here?
Woe, woe is us that we are a sinner,
that we grieve this blessed God,
who is infinite in goodness and grace!
O, if he would punish us for our sins,
it would not wound our heart so deep to offend him;
But though we sin continually,
he continually repeats his kindness to us.
At times we feel we could bear any suffering,
but how can we dishonour this glorious God?
What shall we do to glorify and worship this best of beings?
O that we could consecrate our soul and body to his service,
without restraint, for ever!
O that we could give ourself up to him,
so as never more to attempt to be our own!
or have any will or affections
that are not perfectly conformed to his will and his love!
But, alas, we cannot live and not sin.
O may angels glorify him incessantly,
and, if possible, prostrate themselves lower
before the blessed King of heaven!
we long to bear a part with them in ceaseless praise;
But when we have done all we can to eternity
we shall not be able to offer more than a small fraction of the homage
that the glorious God deserves.
Give us a heart full of divine, heavenly love.
RESTING ON GOD
O GOD MOST HIGH, MOST GLORIOUS,
The thought of thine infinite serenity cheers us,
For we are toiling and moiling, troubled and distressed,
but thou art for ever at perfect peace.
Thy designs cause thee no fear or care of unfulfilment,
they stand fast as the eternal hills.
Thy power knows no bond,
thy goodness no stint.
Thou bringest order out of confusion,
and our defeats are thy victories:
The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
we come to thee as a sinner with cares and sorrows,
to leave every concern entirely to thee,
every sin calling for Christ?s precious blood;
Revive deep spirituality in our heart;
Let us live near to the great Shepherd,
hear his voice, know its tones, follow its calls.
Keep us from deception by causing us to abide in the truth,
from harm by helping us to walk in the power of the Spirit.
Give us intenser faith in the eternal verities,
burning into us by experience the things we know;
Let us never be ashamed of the truth of the gospel,
that we may bear its reproach,
vindicate it,
see Jesus as its essence,
know in it the power of the Spirit.
Lord, help us, for we are often lukewarm and chill;
unbelief mars our confidence,
sin makes us forget thee.
Let the weeds that grow in our soul be cut at their roots;
Grant us to know that we truly live only when we live to thee,
that all else is trifling.
Thy presence alone can make us holy, devout, strong and happy.
Abide in us, gracious God.
DEVOTION
GOD OF our END,
It is our greatest, noblest pleasure
to be acquainted with thee
and with our rational, immortal soul;
It is sweet and entertaining
to look into our being
when all our powers and passions
are united and engaged in pursuit of thee,
when our soul longs and passionately breathes
after conformity to thee
and the full enjoyment of thee;
No hours pass away with so much pleasure
as those spent in communion with thee
and with our heart.
O how desirable, how profitable to the Christian life
is a spirit of holy watchfulness
and godly jealousy over ourself,
when our soul is afraid of nothing
except grieving and offending thee,
the blessed God, our Father and friend,
whom we then love and long to please,
rather than be happy in ourself!
Knowing, as we do, that this is the pious temper,
worthy of the highest ambition,
and closest pursuit of intelligent creatures and holy Christians,
may our joy derive from glorifying and delighting thee.
we long to fill all our time for thee,
whether at home or in the way;
to place all our concerns in thy hands;
to be entirely at thy disposal,
having no will or interest of our own.
Help us to live to thee for ever,
to make thee our last and only end,
so that we may never more in one instance love our sinful self.
THE PERSONAL TOUCH
THOU GREAT we are,
we acknowledge and confess that all things come of thee?
life, breath, happiness, advancement,
sight, touch, hearing,
goodness, truth, beauty?
all that makes existence amiable.
In the spiritual world also we are dependent entirely upon thee.
Give us grace to know more of our need of grace;
Show us our sinfulness that we may willingly confess it;
Reveal to us our weakness that we may know our strength in thee.
we thank thee for any sign of penitence;
give us more of it;
Our sins are black and deep,
and rise from a stony, proud, self-righteous heart;
Help us to confess them with mourning, regret, self-loathing,
with no pretence to merit or excuse;
we need healing;
Good Physician, here is scope for thee,
come and manifest thy power;
we need faith;
Thou who hast given it us, maintain, strengthen, increase it;
Centre it upon the Saviour?s work,
upon the majesty of the Father,
upon the operations of the Spirit;
Work it in us now that we may never doubt thee
as the truthful, mighty, faithful God.
Then we can bring our heart to thee
full of love, gratitude, hope, joy.
May we lay at thy feet these fruits grown in thy garden,
love thee with a passion that can never cool,
believe in thee with a confidence that never staggers,
hope in thee with an expectation that can never be dim,
delight in thee with a rejoicing that cannot be stifled,
glorify thee with the highest of our powers,
burning, blazing, glowing, radiating, as from thy own glory.
DIVINE PROMISES
GLORIOUS JEHOVAH, our COVENANT GOD,
All thy promises in Christ Jesus are yea and amen,
and all shall be fulfilled.
Thou hast spoken them, and they shall be done,
commanded, and they shall come to pass.
Yet we have often doubted thee,
have lived at times as if there were no God.
Lord, forgive us that death in life,
when we have found something apart from thee,
when we have been content with ephemeral things.
But through thy grace we have repented;
Thou hast given us to read our pardon in the wounds of Jesus,
and our soul doth trust in him, our God incarnate,
the ground of our life,
the spring of our hope.
Teach us to be resigned to thy will,
to delight in thy law,
to have no will but thine,
to believe that everything thou doest is for our good.
Help us to leave our concerns in thy hands,
for thou hast power over evil,
and bringest from it an infinite progression of good,
until thy purposes are fulfilled.
Bless us with Abraham?s faith
that staggers not at promises through unbelief.
May we not instruct thee in our troubles,
but glorify thee in our trials;
Grant us a distinct advance in the divine life;
May we reach a higher platform,
leave the mists of doubt and fear in the valley,
and climb to hill-tops of eternal security in Christ
by simply believing he cannot lie,
or turn from his purpose.
Give us the confidence we ought to have in him
who is worthy to be praised,
and who is blessed for evermore.
SPIRITUAL HELPS
ETERNAL FATHER,
It is amazing love,
that thou hast sent thy Son to suffer in our stead,
that thou hast added the Spirit to teach, comfort, guide,
that thou hast allowed the ministry of angels to wall us round;
All heaven subserves the welfare of a poor worm.
Permit thy unseen servants to be ever active on our behalf,
and to rejoice when grace expands in us.
Suffer them never to rest until our conflict is over,
and we stand victorious on salvation?s shore.
Grant that our proneness to evil,
deadness to good,
resistance to thy Spirit?s motions,
may never provoke thee to abandon us.
May our hard heart awake thy pity, not thy wrath,
And if the enemy gets an advantage through our corruption,
let it be seen that heaven is mightier than hell,
that those for us are greater than those against us.
Arise to our help in richness of covenant blessings,
Keep us feeding in the pastures of thy strengthening Word,
searching Scripture to find thee there.
If our waywardness is visited with a scourge,
enable us to receive correction meekly,
to bless the reproving hand,
to discern the motive of rebuke,
to respond promptly, and do the first work.
Let all thy fatherly dealings make us a partaker of thy holiness.
Grant that in every fall we may sink lower on our knees,
and that when we rise it may be to loftier heights of devotion.
May our every cross be sanctified,
every loss be gain,
every denial a spiritual advantage,
every dark day a light of the Holy Spirit,
every night of trial a song.
REFUGE
O LORD,
Whose power is infinite and wisdom infallible,
Order things that they may neither hinder, nor discourage us,
nor prove obstacles to the progress of thy cause;
Stand between us and all strife, that no evil befall,
no sin corrupt our gifts, zeal, attainments;
May we follow duty and not any foolish device of our own;
Permit us not to labour at work which thou wilt not bless,
that we may serve thee without disgrace or debt;
Let us dwell in thy most secret place under thy shadow,
where is safe impenetrable protection from
the arrow that flieth by day,
the pestilence that walketh in darkness,
the strife of tongues,
the malice of ill-will,
the hurt of unkind talk,
the snares of company,
the perils of youth,
the temptations of middle life,
the mournings of old age,
the fear of death.
we are entirely dependent upon thee for support, counsel, consolation.
Uphold us by thy free Spirit,
and may we not think it enough to be preserved from falling,
but may we always go forward,
always abounding in the work thou givest us to do.
Strengthen us by thy Spirit in our inner self
for every purpose of our Christian life.
All our jewels we give to the shadow of the safety that is in thee?
my name anew in Christ,
my body, soul, talents, character,
my success, wife, children, friends, work,
my present, our future, our end.
Take them, they are thine, and we are thine,
now and for ever.
OPENNESS
LORD OF IMMORTALITY,
Before whom angels bow and archangels veil their faces,
enable us to serve thee with reverence and godly fear.
Thou who art Spirit and requirest truth in the inward parts,
help us to worship thee in spirit and in truth.
Thou who art righteous,
let us not harbour sin in our heart,
or indulge a worldly temper,
or seek satisfaction in things that perish.
we hasten towards an hour
when earthly pursuits and possessions will appear vain,
when it will be indifferent whether we have been rich or poor,
successful or disappointed, admired or despised.
But it will be of eternal moment that we have
mourned for sin,
hungered and thirsted after righteousness,
loved the Lord Jesus in sincerity,
gloried in his cross.
May these objects engross our chief solicitude!
Produce in us those principles and dispositions
that make thy service perfect freedom.
Expel from our mind all sinful fear and shame,
so that with firmness and courage we may
confess the Redeemer before men,
go forth with him bearing his reproach,
be zealous with his knowledge,
be filled with his wisdom,
walk with his circumspection,
ask counsel of him in all things,
repair to the Scriptures for his orders,
stay our mind on his peace,
knowing that nothing can befall us
without his permission, appointment and administration.
CHRISTLIKENESS
FATHER OF JESUS,
Dawn returns,
But without thy light within no outward light can profit;
Give us the saving lamp of thy Spirit that we may see thee,
the God of our salvation, the delight of our soul,
rejoicing over us in love.
we commend our heart to thy watchful care,
for we know its treachery and power;
Guard its every portal from the wily enemy,
Give us quick discernment of his deadly arts,
Help us to recognize his bold disguise as an angel of light,
and bid him begone.
May our words and works allure others
to the highest walks of faith and love!
May loiterers be quickened to greater diligence by our example!
May worldlings be won to delight in acquaintance with thee!
May the timid and irresolute be warned of coming doom
by our zeal for Jesus!
Cause us to be a mirror of thy grace,
to show others the joy of thy service,
May our lips be well-tuned cymbals sounding thy praise,
Let a halo of heavenly-mindedness sparkle around us
and a lamp of kindness sunbeam our path.
Teach us the happy art of attending to things temporal
with a mind intent on things eternal.
Send us forth to have compassion on the ignorant and miserable.
Help us to walk as Jesus walked,
my only Saviour and perfect model,
his mind our inward guest,
his meekness our covering garb.
Let our happy place be amongst the poor in spirit,
my delight the gentle ranks of the meek.
Let us always esteem others better than ourself,
and find in true humility an heirdom to two worlds.
CHRISTIAN LOVE
O LOVER OF THE LOVELESS,
It is thy will that we should love thee
with heart, soul, mind, strength,
and our neighbour as ourself.
But we are not sufficient for these things.
There is by nature no pure love in our soul;
Every affection in us is turned from thee;
we are bound, as slave to lust,
we cannot love thee, lovely as thou art,
until thou dost set us free.
By grace we are thy freeman and would serve thee,
for we believe thou art our God in Jesus,
and that through him we are redeemed,
and our sins are forgiven.
With this freedom we would always obey thee,
but we cannot walk in liberty,
any more than we could first attain it, of ourself.
May thy Spirit draw us nearer to thee and thy ways.
Thou art the end of all means,
for if they lead us not to thee, we go away empty.
Order all our ways by thy holy Word
and make thy commandments the joy of our heart,
that by them we may have happy converse with thee.
May we grow in thy love and manifest it to mankind.
Spirit of love, make us like the loving Jesus;
give us his benevolent temper,
his beneficent actions,
that we may shine before men to thy glory.
The more thou doest in love in us and by us,
humble us the more;
keep us meek, lowly,
and always ready to give thee honour.
LOVE SHED ABROAD
GRACIOUS GOD,
Our heart praises thee for the wonder of thy love in Jesus;
He is heaven?s darling, but is for us the incarnate, despised, rejected,
crucified sin-bearer;
In him thy grace has almost out-graced itself,
In him thy love to rebels has reached its height;
O to love thee with a love like this!
Our heart is stone, melt it with thy love,
Our heart is locked, let thy love be the master key to open it;
O Father, we adore thee for thy great love in the gift of Jesus,
O Jesus, we bless thee for resigning thy life for us,
O Holy Spirit, we thank thee for revealing to us this mystery;
Great God, let thy Son see in us the travail of his soul!
Bring us away from our false trusts to rest in him, and him only.
Let us not be so callous to his merit as not to love him,
so indifferent to his blood as not to desire cleansing.
Lord Jesus, Master, Redeemer, Saviour,
come and take entire possession of us;
this is thy right by purchase.
In the arms of love enfold and subdue our wilful spirit.
Take, sanctify, use our every faculty.
we are not ashamed of our hope,
nor has our confidence led us into confusion.
we trusted in thee regarding our innumerable sins,
and thou hast cast them behind thy back.
we trusted in thee when evils encompassed us,
and thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
we trusted in thee in an hour of distress,
and thou didst not fail us, though faith trembled.
O God of the eternal choice,
O God of the restored possession purchased on the tree,
O God of the effectual call,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
we adore thy glory, honour, majesty, power, dominion for ever.
TO BE FIT FOR GOD
THOU MAKER AND SUSTAINER OF ALL THINGS,
Day and night are thine,
heaven and earth declare thy glory;
But I, a creature of thy power and bounty,
have sinned against thee by resisting the dictates of conscience,
the demands of thy law,
the calls of thy gospel;
yet we live under the dispensation of a given hope.
Deliver us from worldly dispositions,
for we are born from above and bound for glory.
May we view and long after holiness
as the beauty and dignity of the soul.
Let us never slumber, never lose our assurance,
never fail to wear armour when passing through enemy land.
Fit us for every scene and circumstance;
Stay our mind upon thee and turn our trials to blessings,
that they may draw out our gratitude and praise
as we see their design and effects.
Render our obedience to thy will holy, natural, and delightful.
Rectify all our principles by clear, consistent,
and influential views of divine truth.
Let us never undervalue or neglect any part of thy revealed will.
May we duly regard the doctrine and practice of the gospel,
prizing its commands as well as its promises.
Sanctify us in every relation, office, transaction and condition of life,
that if we prosper we may not be unduly exalted,
if we suffer we may not be over-sorrowful.
Balance our mind in all varying circumstances
and help us to cultivate a disposition that renders every duty
a spiritual privilege.
Thus may we be content,
be a glory to thee
and an example to others.
CONFIDENCE
O GOD, THOU ART VERY GREAT,
Our lot is to approach thee with godly fear and humble confidence,
for thy condescension equals thy grandeur,
and thy goodness is thy glory.
we are unworthy, but thou dost welcome;
guilty, but thou art merciful;
indigent, but thy riches are unsearchable.
Thou hast shown boundless compassion towards us
by not sparing thy Son,
and by giving us freely all things in him;
This is the foundation of our hope,
the refuge of our safety,
the new and living way to thee,
the means of that conviction of sin, brokenness of heart,
and self-despair, which will endear to us the gospel.
Happy are they who are Christ?s,
in him at peace with thee,
justified from all things,
delivered from coming wrath,
made heirs of future glory;
Give us such deadness to the world,
such love to the Saviour,
such attachment to his house,
such devotedness to his service,
as proves us a subject of his salvation.
May every part of our character and conduct
make a serious and amiable impression on others,
and impel them to ask the way to the Master.
Let no incident of life, pleasing or painful,
injure the prosperity of our soul, but rather increase it.
Send us thy help,
for thine appointments are not meant to make us independent of thee,
and the best means will be vain without super-added blessings.
COVENANT
LORD JESUS,
Grant us the favour of being led by thee,
under the directions of thy providence and thy Word.
Grant us thy blessings with bitter things,
to brighten and quicken us,
not to depress and make us lifeless;
Grant us, like Gideon of old, way-tokens,
by removing things that discourage us;
Grant us succour beneath the shadow of thy sympathy
when we are tempted.
Accept our unceasing thanks
that we are not cast off from thy hand
as a darkened star or a rudderless vessel.
Suffer not our life to extend beyond our usefulness;
Cast us not under the feet of pride, injustice, riches,
worldly greatness, selfish oppression of men;
Help us to wait patiently, silently upon thee,
not to be enraged or speak unadvisedly.
Let thy mercy follow us while we live,
and give us aid to resign ourself to thy will.
Take our heart and hold it in thy hand;
write upon it reverence to thyself
with an inscription that time and eternity cannot erase.
To thy grace and the care of thy covenant we commit ourself,
in sickness, and in health,
for thou hast overcome the world,
fulfilled the law,
finished justifying righteousness,
swallowed up death in victory,
and taken all power everywhere.
Mark this covenant with thine own blood
in the court of forgiving mercy;
Attach unto it thy name in which we believe,
for it is sealed by our unworthy mortal hand.


6. Approach to God
ACT OF APPROACH
BENIGN LORD,
we praise thee continually
for permission to approach thy throne of grace,
and to spread our wants and desires before thee.
we are not worthy of thy blessings and mercies
for we are far gone from original righteousness;
Our depraved nature reveals itself in disobedience and rebellion;
Our early days discovered in us discontent, pride, envy, revenge.
Remember not the sins of our youth,
nor the multiplied transgressions of later years,
my failure to improve time and talents,
my abuse of mercies and means,
my wasted sabbaths,
my perverted seasons of grace,
my long neglect of thy great salvation,
my disregard of the Friend of sinners.
While we confess our guilt, help us to feel it deeply,
with self-abhorrence and self-despair, yet
to remember there is hope in thee,
and to see the Lamb that takes away sin.
Through him may we return to thee,
listen to thee,
trust in thee,
delight in thy law,
obey thee,
be upheld by thee.
Preserve our understanding from error,
my affections from love of idols,
my lips from speaking guile,
my conduct from stain of vice,
my character from appearance of evil,
that we may be harmless, blameless, rebukeless,
exemplary, useful, light-giving,
prudent, zealous for thy glory
and the good of our fellow-men.
IN PRAYER
O LORD,
In prayer we launch far out into the eternal world,
and on that broad ocean our soul triumphs over all evils
on the shores of mortality.
Time, with its gay amusements and cruel disappointments,
never appears so inconsiderate as then.
In prayer we see ourself as nothing;
we find our heart going after thee with intensity,
and long with vehement thirst to live to thee.
Blessed be the strong gales of the Spirit
that speed us on our way to the New Jerusalem.
In prayer all things here below vanish,
and nothing seems important
but holiness of heart and the salvation of others.
In prayer all our worldly cares, fears, anxieties disappear,
and are of as little significance as a puff of wind.
In prayer our soul inwardly exults with lively thoughts
at what thou art doing for thy church,
and we long that thou shouldest get thyself a great name
from sinners returning to Zion.
In prayer we are lifted above the frowns and flatteries of life,
and taste heavenly joys;
entering into the eternal world
we can give ourself to thee with all our heart,
to be thine for ever.
In prayer we can place all our concerns in thy hands,
to be entirely at thy disposal,
having no will or interest of our own.
In prayer we can intercede for our friends, ministers, sinners,
the church, thy kingdom to come,
with greatest freedom, ardent hopes,
as a son to his father,
as a lover to the beloved.
Help us to be all prayer and never to cease praying.
LIVING BY PRAYER
O GOD OF THE OPEN EAR,
Teach us to live by prayer as well as by providence,
for ourself, soul, body, children, family, church;
Give us a heart frameable to thy will;
so might we live in prayer, and honour thee,
being kept from evil, known and unknown.
Help us to see the sin that accompanies all we do,
and the good we can distil from everything.
Let us know that the work of prayer is to bring our will to thine,
and that without this it is folly to pray;
When we try to bring thy will to mine it is to command Christ,
to be above him, and wiser than he:
this is our sin and pride.
we can only succeed when we pray
according to thy precept and promise,
and to be done with as it pleases thee,
according to thy sovereign will.
When thou commandest us to pray for pardon, peace, brokenness,
it is because thou wilt give us the thing promised,
for thy glory, as well as for our good.
Help us not only to desire small things
but with holy boldness to desire great things
for thy people, for ourself,
that they and we might live to show thy glory.
Teach us that it is wisdom for us to pray for all we have,
out of love, willingly, not of necessity;
that we may come to thee at any time,
to lay open our needs acceptably to thee;
that our great sin lies in our not keeping
the savour of thy ways;
that the remembrance of this truth is one way
to the sense of thy presence;
that there is no wrath like the wrath of being governed
by our own lusts for our own ends.
MEETING GOD
GREAT GOD,
In public and private, in sanctuary and home,
may our life be steeped in prayer,
filled with the spirit of grace and supplication,
each prayer perfumed with the incense of atoning blood.
Help us, defend us, until from praying ground
we pass to the realm of unceasing praise.
Urged by our need, invited by thy promises, called by thy Spirit,
we enter thy presence, worshipping thee with godly fear,
awed by thy majesty, greatness, glory,
but encouraged by thy love.
we are all poverty as well as all guilt,
having nothing of our own with which to repay thee,
But we bring Jesus to thee in the arms of faith,
pleading his righteousness to offset our iniquities,
rejoicing that he will weigh down the scales for us,
and satisfy thy justice.
we bless thee that great sin draws out great grace,
that, although the least sin deserves infinite punishment
because done against an infinite God,
yet there is mercy for us,
for where guilt is most terrible,
there thy mercy in Christ is most free and deep.
Bless us by revealing to us more of his saving merits,
by causing thy goodness to pass before us,
by speaking peace to our contrite heart;
Strengthen us to give thee no rest
until Christ shall reign supreme within us,
in every thought, word, and deed,
in a faith that purifies the heart,
overcomes the world,
works by love,
fastens us to thee,
and ever clings to the cross.
THE PRAYER OF LOVE
GRACIOUS LORD,
Thy name is love,
in love receive our prayer.
Our sins are more than the wide sea?s sand,
but where sin abounds, there is grace more abundant.
Look to the cross of thy beloved Son,
and view the preciousness of his atoning blood;
Listen to his never-failing intercession,
and whisper to our heart, ?Thy sins are forgiven,
be of good cheer, lie down in peace.?
Grace cataracts from heaven and flows for ever,
and mercy never wearies in bestowing benefits.
Grant us more and more to prize the privilege of prayer,
to come to thee as a sin-soiled sinner,
to find pardon in thee,
to converse with thee;
to know thee in prayer as
the path in which our feet tread,
the latch upon the door of our lips,
the light that shines through our eyes,
the music of our ears,
the marrow of our understanding,
the strength of our will,
the power of our affection,
the sweetness of our memory.
May the matter of our prayer be always wise, humble, submissive,
obedient, scriptural, Christ-like.
Give us unwavering faith that supplications are never in vain,
that if we seem not to obtain our petitions
we shall have larger, richer answers,
surpassing all that we ask or think.
Unsought, thou hast given us the greatest gift,
the person of thy Son,
and in him thou wilt give us all we need.
THE THRONE
O GOD OF our DELIGHT,
Thy throne of grace is the pleasure ground of our soul.
Here we obtain mercy in time of need,
here see the smile of thy reconciled face,
here joy pleads the name of Jesus,
here we sharpen the sword of the Spirit,
anoint the shield of faith,
put on the helmet of salvation,
gather manna from thy Word,
am strengthened for each conflict,
nerved for the upward race,
empowered to conquer every foe;
Help us to come to Christ
as the fountain head of descending blessings,
as a wide open flood-gate of mercy.
we marvel at our insensate folly,
that with such enriching favours within our reach
we are slow to extend the hand to take them.
Have mercy upon our deadness for thy Name?s sake.
Quicken us, stir us, fill us with holy zeal.
Strengthen us that we may cling to thee and not let thee go.
May thy Spirit within us draw all blessings from thy hand.
When we advance not, we backslide.
Let us walk humbly because of good omitted and evil done.
Impress on our mind the shortness of time,
the work to be engaged in,
the account to be rendered,
the nearness of eternity,
the fearful sin of despising thy Spirit.
May we never forget that thy eye always sees,
thy ear always hears,
thy recording hand always writes.
May we never give thee rest until Christ is the pulse of our heart;
the spokesman of our lips,
the lamp of our feet.
REQUESTS
O GOD,
May we never be a blot or a blank in life,
cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of,
or make our liberty an occasion to the flesh.
May we by love serve others,
and please our neighbour for his good to edification.
May we attend to what is ornamental as well as essential in religion, pursuing things that
are lovely and of good report.
May we render our profession of the gospel not only impressive,
but amiable and inviting.
May we hold forth the way of Jesus with our temper as well as our tongue,
with our life as well as our lips.
May we say to all we meet,
we are journeying towards the Lord?s given place,
come with us for your good.
May we be prepared
for all the allotments of this short, changing, uncertain life,
with a useful residence in it,
a comfortable journey through it,
a safe passage out of it.
May we be in character and conduct like the dew of heaven,
the salt of the earth,
the light of the world,
the fullness of the fountain.
May we never be ashamed of Jesus or his words,
never be deterred from fulfilling a known duty through fear,
never be discouraged from attempting it through weakness.
May we see all things in a divine light so that they may
inform our judgment and sanctify our heart.
And by all the disciplines of thy providence,
and all the ordinances of religion,
may we be increasingly prepared for life?s remaining duties,
the solemnities of a dying hour,
and the joys and services
that lie beyond the grave.
AFTER PRAYER
O GOD OF GRACE,
we bewail our cold, listless, heartless prayers;
their poverty adds sin to sin.
If our hope were in them we should be undone,
But the worth of Jesus perfumes our feeble breathings,
and wins their acceptance.
Deepen our contrition of heart,
Confirm our faith in the blood that washes from all sin.
May we walk lovingly with our great Redeemer.
Flood our soul with true repentance
that our heart may be broken for sin and unto sin.
Let us be as slow to forgive ourself as thou art ready to forgive us.
Gazing on the glories of thy grace
may we be cast into the lowest depths of shame,
and walk with downcast head
now thou art pacified towards us.
O our great High Priest,
pour down upon us streams of needful grace,
bless us in all our undertakings,
in every thought of our mind,
every word of our lips,
every step of our feet,
every deed of our hands.
Thou didst live to bless,
die to bless,
rise to bless,
ascend to bless,
take thy throne to bless,
and now thou dost reign to bless.
O give sincerity to our desires,
earnestness to our supplications,
fervour to our love.
A COLLOQUY ON REJOICING
REMEMBER, O our SOUL,
It is thy duty and privilege to rejoice in God:
He requires it of thee for all his favours of grace.
Rejoice then in the Giver and his goodness,
Be happy in him, O our heart, and in nothing but God,
for whatever a man trusts in,
from that he expects happiness.
He who is the ground of thy faith
should be the substance of thy joy.
Whence then comes heaviness and dejection,
when joy is sown in thee,
promised by the Father,
bestowed by the Son,
inwrought by the Holy Spirit,
thine by grace,
thy birthright in believing?
Art thou seeking to rejoice in thyself
from an evil motive of pride and self-reputation?
Thou hast nothing of thine own but sin,
nothing to move God to be gracious
or to continue his grace towards thee.
If thou forget this thou wilt lose thy joy.
Art thou grieving under a sense of indwelling sin?
Let godly sorrow work repentance,
as the true spirit which the Lord blesses,
and which creates fullest joy;
Sorrow for self opens rejoicing in God,
Self-loathing draws down divine delights.
Hast thou sought joys in some creature comfort?
Look not below God for happiness;
fall not asleep in Delilah?s lap.
Let God be all in all to thee,
and joy in the fountain that is always full.


7. Gifts of Grace
GOD ALL-SUFFICIENT
O LORD OF GRACE,
The world is before us this day,
and we are weak and fearful,
but we look to thee for strength;
If we venture forth alone we stumble and fall,
but on the Beloved?s arms we are firm as the eternal hills;
If left to the treachery of our heart we shall shame thy Name,
but if enlightened, guided, upheld by thy Spirit,
we shall bring thee glory.
Be thou our arm to support,
my strength to stand,
my light to see,
my feet to run,
my shield to protect,
my sword to repel,
my sun to warm.
To enrich us will not diminish thy fullness;
All thy lovingkindness is in thy Son,
we bring him to thee in the arms of faith,
we urge his saving Name as the One who died for us.
we plead his blood to pay our debts of wrong.
Accept his worthiness for our unworthiness,
his sinlessness for our transgressions,
his purity for our uncleanness,
his sincerity for our guile,
his truth for our deceits,
his meekness for our pride,
his constancy for our backslidings,
his love for our enmity,
his fullness for our emptiness,
his faithfulness for our treachery,
his obedience for our lawlessness,
his glory for our shame,
his devotedness for our waywardness,
his holy life for our unchaste ways,
his righteousness for our dead works,
his death for our life.
PRIVILEGES
O LORD GOD,
Teach us to know that grace precedes, accompanies,
and follows our salvation,
that it sustains the redeemed soul,
that not one link of its chain can ever break.
From Calvary?s cross wave upon wave of grace
reaches us,
deals with our sin,
washes us clean,
renews our heart,
strengthens our will,
draws out our affection,
kindles a flame in our soul,
rules throughout our inner man,
consecrates our every thought, word, work,
teaches us thy immeasurable love.
How great are our privileges in Christ Jesus!
Without him we stand far off, a stranger, an outcast;
in him we draw near and touch his kingly sceptre.
Without him we dare not lift up our guilty eyes;
in him we gaze upon our Father-God and Friend.
Without him we hide our lips in trembling shame;
in him we open our mouth in petition and praise.
Without him all is wrath and consuming fire;
in him is all love, and the repose of our soul.
Without him is gaping hell below us, and eternal anguish;
in him its gates are barred to us by his precious blood.
Without him darkness spreads its horrors in front;
in him an eternity of glory is our boundless horizon.
Without him all within us is terror and dismay,
in him every accusation is charmed into joy and peace.
Without him all things external call for our condemnation;
in him they minister to our comfort,
and are to be enjoyed with thanksgiving.
Praise be to thee for grace,
and for the unspeakable gift of Jesus.
BLESSINGS
THOU GREAT THREE-ONE,
Author of all blessings we enjoy,
of all we hope for,
Thou hast taught us that
neither the experience of present evils,
nor the remembrances of former sins,
nor the remonstrances of friends,
will or can affect a sinner?s heart,
except thou vouchsafe to reveal thy grace
and quicken the dead in sin
by the effectual working of thy Spirit?s power.
Thou hast shown us that
the sensible effusions of divine love in the soul
are superior to and distinct from bodily health,
and that oft-times spiritual comforts are at their highest
when physical well-being is at its lowest.
Thou hast given us the ordinance of song as a means of grace;
Fit us to bear our part in that music ever new,
which elect angels and saints made perfect
now sing before thy throne and before the Lamb.
we bless thee for tempering every distress with joy;
too much of the former might weigh us down,
too much of the latter might puff us up;
Thou art wise to give us a taste of both.
we love thee
for giving us clusters of grapes in the wilderness,
and drops of heavenly wine
that set us longing to have our fill.
Apart from thee we quickly die,
bereft of thee we starve,
far from thee we thirst and droop;
But thou art all we need.
Let us continually grasp the promise,
?we will never leave thee nor forsake thee.?
FAITH
MY GOD,
we bless thee that thou hast given us the eye of faith,
to see thee as Father,
to know thee as a covenant God,
to experience thy love planted in us;
For faith is the grace of union
by which we spell out our entitlement to thee:
Faith casts our anchor upwards where we trust in thee
and engage thee to be our Lord.
Be pleased to live and move within us,
breathing in our prayers,
inhabiting our praises,
speaking in our words,
moving in our actions,
living in our life,
causing us to grow in grace.
Thy bounteous goodness has helped us believe,
but our faith is weak and wavering,
its light dim,
its steps tottering,
its increase slow,
its backslidings frequent;
It should scale the heavens,
but lies grovelling in the dust.
Lord, fan this divine spark into glowing flame.
When faith sleeps, our heart becomes an unclean thing,
the fount of every loathsome desire,
the cage of unclean lusts all fluttering to escape,
the noxious tree of deadly fruit,
the open wayside of earthly tares.
Lord, awake faith to put forth its strength
until all heaven fills our soul
and all impurity is cast out.
LOVE
LORD JESUS,
Give us to love thee, to embrace thee,
though we once took lust and sin in our arms.
Thou didst love us before we loved thee,
an enemy, a sinner, a loathsome worm.
Thou didst own us when we disclaimed ourself;
Thou dost love us as a son,
and weep over us as over Jerusalem.
Love brought thee from heaven to earth,
from earth to the cross,
from the cross to the grave.
Love caused thee to be weary, hungry, tempted,
scorned, scourged, buffeted,
spat upon, crucified, and pierced.
Love led thee to bow thy head in death.
Our salvation is the point where perfect created love
and the most perfect uncreated love meet together;
for thou dost welcome us,
not like Joseph and his brothers, loving and sorrowing,
but loving and rejoicing.
This love is not intermittent, cold, changeable;
it does not cease or abate for all our enmity.
Holiness is a spark from thy love
kindled to a flame in our heart by thy Spirit,
and so it ever turns to the place from which it comes.
Let us see thy love everywhere, not only in the cross,
but in the fellowship of believers and in the world around us.
When we feel the warmth of the sun
may we praise thee who art the Sun of righteousness with healing power.
When we feel the tender rain
may we think of the gospel showers that water our soul.
When we walk by the river side
may we praise thee for that stream that makes the eternal city glad,
and washes white our robes that we may have the right to the tree of life.
Thy infinite love is a mystery of mysteries,
and our eternal rest lies in the eternal enjoyment of it.
JOY
O CHRIST,
All thy ways of mercy tend to and end in our delight.
Thou didst weep, sorrow, suffer that we might rejoice.
For our joy thou hast sent the Comforter,
multiplied thy promises,
shown us our future happiness,
given us a living fountain.
Thou art preparing joy for us and us for joy;
we pray for joy, wait for joy, long for joy;
give us more than we can hold, desire, or think of.
Measure out to us our times and degrees of joy,
at our work, business, duties.
If we weep at night, give us joy in the morning.
Let us rest in the thought of thy love,
pardon for sin,
my title to heaven,
my future unspotted state.
we are an unworthy recipient of thy grace.
we often disesteem thy blood and slight thy love,
but can in repentance draw water
from the wells of thy joyous forgiveness.
Let our heart leap towards the eternal sabbath,
where the work of redemption, sanctification, preservation, glorification
is finished and perfected for ever,
where thou wilt rejoice over us with joy.
There is no joy like the joy of heaven,
for in that state are no sad divisions, unchristian quarrels,
contentions, evil designs,
weariness, hunger, cold,
sadness, sin, suffering,
persecutions, toils of duty.
O healthful place where none are sick!
O happy land where all are kings!
O holy assembly where all are priests!
How free a state where none are servants except to thee!
Bring us speedily to the land of joy.
CONTENTMENT
HEAVENLY FATHER,
If we should suffer need, and go unclothed, and be in poverty,
make our heart prize thy love, know it, be constrained by it,
though we be denied all blessings.
It is thy mercy to afflict and try us with wants,
for by these trials we see our sins,
and desire severance from them.
Let us willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations,
if we can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil,
and be delivered from it with gratitude to thee,
acknowledging this as the highest testimony of thy love.
When thy Son, Jesus, came into our soul instead of sin,
he became more dear to us than sin had formerly been;
his kindly rule replaced sin?s tyranny.
Teach us to believe that if ever we would have any sin subdued
we must not only labour to overcome it,
but must invite Christ to abide in the place of it,
and he must become to us more than vile lust had been;
that his sweetness, power, life may be there.
Thus we must seek a grace from him contrary to sin,
but must not claim it apart from himself.
When we are afraid of evils to come, comfort us by showing us
that in ourself we are a dying, condemned wretch,
but in Christ we are reconciled and live;
that in our self we find insufficiency and no rest,
but in Christ there is satisfaction and peace;
that in ourself we are feeble and unable to do good,
but in Christ we have ability to do all things.
Though now we have his graces in part,
we shall shortly have them perfectly in that state
where thou wilt show thyself fully reconciled,
and alone sufficient,
efficient,
loving us completely,
with sin abolished.
O Lord, hasten that day.
REPOSE
HEAVENLY FATHER,
Our faith is in thee,
Our expectation is from thee,
Our love goes out toward thee,
we believe thee,
accept thy Word,
acquiesce in thy will,
rely on thy promises,
trust thy providence.
we bless thee that the court of conscience proves us to be thine.
we do not need signs and wonders to believe,
for thy Word is sure truth.
we have cast our anchor in the port of peace,
knowing that present and future are in nail-pierced hands.
Thou art so good, wise, just holy,
that no mistake is possible to thee.
Thou art fountain and source of all law;
what thou commandest is mine to obey.
we yield to thy sovereignty all that we are and have;
do thou with us as thou wilt.
Thou hast given us silence in our heart
in place of murmurings and complaints.
Keep our wishes from growing into willings,
my willings from becoming fault-finding with thy providences,
and have mercy on us.
If we sin and are rebellious, help us to repent;
then take away our mourning and give us music;
remove our sackcloth and adorn us with beauty;
take away our sighs and fill our mouth with songs;
and when we are restored and rest in thee,
give us summer weather in our heart.
SLEEP
BLESSED CREATOR,
Thou hast promised thy beloved sleep;
Give us restoring rest needful for tomorrow?s toil;
If dreams be mine, let them not be tinged with evil.
Let thy Spirit make our time of repose
a blessed temple of his holy presence.
May our frequent lying down make us familiar with death,
the bed we approach remind us of the grave,
the eyes we now close picture to us their final closing.
Keep us always ready, waiting for admittance to thy presence.
Weaken our attachment to earthly things.
May we hold life loosely in our hand,
knowing that we receive it on condition of its surrender;
As pain and suffering betoken transitory health,
may we not shrink from a death that introduces us
to the freshness of eternal youth.
we retire this night in full assurance of one day awaking with thee.
All glory for this precious hope,
for the gospel of grace,
for thine unspeakable gift of Jesus,
for the fellowship of the Trinity.
Withhold not thy mercies in the night season;
thy hand never wearies,
thy power needs no repose,
thine eye never sleeps.
Help us when we helpless lie,
when our conscience accuses us of sin,
when our mind is harassed by foreboding thoughts,
when our eyes are held awake by personal anxieties.
Show thyself to us as the God of all grace, love and power;
thou hast a balm for every wound,
a solace for all anguish,
a remedy for every pain,
a peace for all disquietude.
Permit us to commit ourself to thee awake or asleep.
COMFORTS
GIVER OF ALL GOOD,
Streams upon streams of love overflow our path.
Thou hast made us out of nothing,
hast recalled us from a far country,
hast translated us from ignorance to knowledge,
from darkness to light,
from death to life,
from misery to peace,
from folly to wisdom,
from error to truth,
from sin to victory.
Thanks be to thee for our high and holy calling.
we bless thee for ministering angels,
for the comfort of thy Word,
for the ordinances of thy church,
for the teaching of thy Spirit,
for thy holy sacraments,
for the communion of saints,
for Christian fellowship,
for the recorded annals of holy lives,
for examples sweet to allure,
for beacons sad to deter.
Thy will is in all thy provisions
to enable us to grow in grace,
and to be meet for thy eternal presence.
Our heaven-born faith gives promise of eternal sight,
my new birth a pledge of never-ending life.
we draw near to thee, knowing thou wilt draw near to us.
we ask of thee, believing thou hast already given.
we entrust ourself to thee, for thou hast redeemed us.
we bless and adore thee, the eternal God,
for the comfort of these thoughts,
the joy of these hopes.
FULLNESS
HEAVENLY FATHER
Thou hast revealed to us ourself as a mass of sin,
and thyself as the fullness of goodness,
with strength enough to succour us,
wisdom enough to guide us,
mercy enough to quicken us,
love enough to satisfy us.
Thou hast shown us that because thou art mine
we can live by thy life,
be strong in thy strength,
be guided by thy wisdom;
and so we can pitch our thoughts and heart in thee.
This is the exchange of wonderful love?
for us to have thee for ourself,
and for thee to have us, and to give us thyself.
There is in thee all fullness of the good we need,
and the fullness of all grace to draw us to thyself,
who, else, could never have come.
But having come, we must cleave to thee,
be knit to thee,
always seek thee.
There is none all good as thou art:
With thee we can live without other things,
for thou art God all-sufficient,
and the glory, peace, rest, joy of the world
is a creaturely, perishing thing in comparison with thee.
Help us to know that he who hopes for nothing but thee,
and for all things only for thee, hopes truly,
and that we must place all our happiness in holiness,
if we hope to be filled with all grace.
Convince us that we can have no peace at death,
nor hope that we should go to Christ,
unless we intend to do his will
and have his fullness while we live.
HAPPINESS
O LORD,
Help us never to expect any happiness from the world,
but only in thee.
Let us not think that we shall be more happy by living to ourself,
for we can only be happy if employed for thee,
and if we desire to live in this world
only to do and suffer what thou dost allot us.
Teach us
that if we do not live a life that satisfies thee,
we shall not live a life that will satisfy ourself.
Help us to desire the spirit and temper of angels
who willingly come down to this lower world
to perform thy will,
though their desires are heavenly,
and not set in the least upon earthy things;
then we shall be of that temper we ought to have.
Help us not to think of living to thee in our own strength,
but always to look to and rely on thee for assistance.
Teach us that there is no greater truth than this,
that we can do nothing of ourself.
Lord, this is the life that no unconverted man can live,
yet it is an end that every godly soul presses after;
Let it be then our concern to devote ourself and all to thee.
Make us more fruitful and more spiritual,
for barrenness is our daily affliction and load.
How precious is time, and how painful to see it fly
with little done to good purpose!
we need thy help:
O may our soul sensibly depend upon thee for all sanctification,
and every accomplishment of thy purposes for us,
for the world,
and for thy kingdom.
VOCATION
HEAVENLY FATHER,
Thou hast placed us in the church
which thy Son purchased by his own blood.
Add grace to grace that we may live worthy of our vocation.
we are a voyager across life?s ocean;
Safe in heaven?s ark, may we pass through a troubled world
into the harbour of eternal rest.
we are a tree of the vineyard thou hast planted.
Grant us not to be barren, with worthless leaves and wild grapes;
Prune us of useless branches;
Water us with dews of blessing.
we are part of the Lamb?s bride, the church.
Help us to be true, faithful, chaste, loving, pure, devoted;
Let no strong affection wantonly dally with the world.
May we live high above a love of things temporal,
sanctified, cleansed, unblemished, hallowed by grace,
thy love our fullness,
thy glory our joy,
thy precepts our pathway,
thy cross our resting place.
Our heart is not always a flame of adoring love,
But, resting in thy Son?s redemption,
we look forward to the days of heaven,
where no langour shall oppress,
no iniquities chill,
no mists of unbelief dim the eye,
no zeal ever tires.
Father, these thoughts are the stay, prop, and comfort of our soul.
TRUTH IN JESUS
LIFE-GIVING GOD,
Quicken us to call upon thy name,
for our mind is ignorant,
my thoughts vagrant,
my affections earthly,
my heart unbelieving,
and only thy Spirit can help our infirmities.
we approach thee as Father and Friend,
my portion for ever,
my exceeding joy,
my strength of heart.
we believe in thee as the God of nature,
the ordainer of providence,
the sender of Jesus our Saviour.
Our guilty fears discourage an approach to thee,
but we praise thee for the blessed news
that Jesus reconciles thee to us.
May the truth that is in him illuminate in us all that is dark,
establish in us all that is wavering,
comfort in us all that is wretched,
accomplish in us all that is of thy goodness,
and glorify in us the name of Jesus.
we pass through a vale of tears
but bless thee for the opening gate of glory at its end.
Enable us to realize as mine the better, heavenly country.
Prepare us for every part of our pilgrimage.
Uphold our steps by thy Word.
Let no iniquity dominate us.
Teach us that Christ cannot be the way if we are the end,
that he cannot be Redeemer if we are our own saviour,
that there can be no true union with him
while the creature has our heart,
that faith accepts him as Redeemer and Lord or not at all.
GRACE IN TRIALS
FATHER OF MERCIES,
Hear us for Jesus? sake.
we are sinful even in our closest walk with thee;
it is of thy mercy we died not long ago;
Thy grace has given us faith in the cross
by which thou hast reconciled thyself to us and us to thee,
drawing us by thy great love,
reckoning us as innocent in Christ though guilty in ourself.
Giver of all graces,
we look to thee for strength to maintain them in us,
for it is hard to practise what we believe.
Strengthen us against temptations.
Our heart is an unexhausted fountain of sin,
a river of corruption since childhood days,
flowing on in every pattern of behaviour;
Thou hast disarmed us of the means in which we trusted,
and we have no strength but in thee.
Thou alone canst hold back our evil ways,
but without thy grace to sustain us we fall.
Satan?s darts quickly inflame us,
and the shield that should quench them
easily drops from our hand:
Empower us against his wiles and assaults.
Keep us sensible of our weakness,
and of our dependence upon thy strength.
Let every trial teach us more of thy peace,
more of thy love.
Thy Holy Spirit is given to increase thy graces,
and we cannot preserve or improve them
unless he works continually in us.
May he confirm our trust in thy promised help,
and let us walk humbly in dependence upon thee,
for Jesus? sake.
THE GRACE OF THE CROSS
O our SAVIOUR,
we thank thee from the depths of our being
for thy wondrous grace and love
in bearing our sin in thine own body on the tree.
May thy cross be to us
as the tree that sweetens our bitter Marahs,
as the rod that blossoms with life and beauty,
as the brazen serpent that calls forth the look of faith.
By thy cross crucify our every sin;
Use it to increase our intimacy with thyself;
Make it the ground of all our comfort,
the liveliness of all our duties,
the sum of all thy gospel promises,
the comfort of all our afflictions,
the vigour of our love, thankfulness, graces,
the very essence of our religion;
And by it give us that rest without rest,
the rest of ceaseless praise.
O our LORD AND SAVIOUR,
Thou hast also appointed a cross for us to take up and carry,
a cross before thou givest us a crown.
Thou hast appointed it to be our portion,
but self-love hates it,
carnal reason is unreconciled to it;
without the grace of patience we cannot bear it,
walk with it, profit by it.
O blessed cross, what mercies dost thou bring with thee!
Thou art only esteemed hateful by our rebel will,
heavy because we shirk thy load.
Teach us, gracious Lord and Saviour,
that with our cross thou sendest promised grace
so that we may bear it patiently,
that our cross is thy yoke which is easy,
and thy burden which is light.
CALVARY?S ANTHEM
HEAVENLY FATHER,
Thou hast led us singing to the cross
where we fling down all our burdens and see them vanish,
where our mountains of guilt are levelled to a plain,
where our sins disappear, though they are the greatest that exist,
and are more in number than the grains of fine sand;
For there is power in the blood of Calvary
to destroy sins more than can be counted
even by one from the choir of heaven.
Thou hast given us a hill-side spring that washes clear and white,
and we go as a sinner to its waters,
bathing without hindrance in its crystal streams.
At the cross there is free forgiveness for poor and meek ones,
and ample blessings that last for ever;
The blood of the Lamb is like a great river of infinite grace
with never any diminishing of its fullness
as thirsty ones without number drink of it.
O Lord, for ever will thy free forgiveness live
that was gained on the mount of blood;
In the midst of a world of pain
it is a subject for praise in every place,
a song on earth,
an anthem in heaven,
its love and virtue knowing no end.
we have a longing for the world above
where multitudes sing the great song,
for our soul was never created to love the dust of earth.
Though here our spiritual state is frail and poor,
we shall go on singing Calvary?s anthem.
May we always know
that a clean heart full of goodness is more beautiful than the lily,
that only a clean heart can sing by night and by day,
that such a heart is mine when we abide at Calvary.
SINCERITY
ELECTOR OF SAINTS,
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and callest to thyself.
With thee is mercy, redemption, assurance, forgiveness;
Thou hast lifted us, a prisoner, out of the pit of sin
and pronounced our discharge,
not only in the courts of heaven,
but in the dock of conscience;
hast justified us by faith,
given us peace with thee,
made us to enjoy glorious liberty as thy child.
Save us from the false hope of the hypocrite:
May we never suppose we are in Christ unless we are a new creature,
never think we are born of the Spirit
unless we mind the things of the Spirit,
never rest satisfied with professions of belief
and outward forms and services,
while our heart is not right with thee.
May we judge our sincerity in religion by our fear to offend thee,
my concern to know thy will,
my willingness to deny ourself.
May nothing render us forgetful of thy glory,
or turn us aside from thy commands,
or shake our confidence in thy promises,
or offend thy children.
Let not our temporal occupations injure our spiritual concerns,
or the cares of life make us neglect the one thing needful.
May we not be inattentive to the design of thy dealings with us,
or insensible under thy rebukes,
or immobile at thy calls.
May we learn the holy art of abiding in thee,
of being in the world and not of it,
of making everything not only consistent with
but conducive to our religion.


8. Service and Ministry
GOD?S CAUSE
SOVEREIGN GOD,
Thy cause, not our own, engages our heart,
and we appeal to thee with greatest freedom
to set up thy kingdom in every place where Satan reigns;
Glorify thyself and we shall rejoice,
for to bring honour to thy name is our sole desire.
we adore thee that thou art God,
and long that others should know it, feel it, and rejoice in it.
O that all men might love and praise thee,
that thou mightest have all glory from the intelligent world!
Let sinners be brought to thee for thy dear name!
To the eye of reason everything respecting the conversion of others
is as dark as midnight,
But thou canst accomplish great things;
the cause is thine,
and it is to thy glory that men should be saved.
Lord, use us as thou wilt,
do with us what thou wilt;
but, O, promote thy cause,
let thy kingdom come,
let thy blessed interest be advanced in this world!
O do thou bring in great numbers to Jesus!
let us see that glorious day,
and give us to grasp for multitudes of souls;
let us be willing to die to that end;
and while we live let us labour for thee
to the utmost of our strength,
spending time profitably in this work,
both in health and in weakness.
It is thy cause and kingdom we long for, not our own.
O, answer thou our request!
SERVICE AND EQUIPMENT
THOU GOD OF our END,
Thou hast given us a fixed disposition
to go forth and spend our life for thee;
If it be thy will let us proceed in it;
if not, then revoke our intentions.
All we want in life is such circumstances
as may best enable us to serve thee in the world;
To this end we leave all our concerns in thy hand,
but let us not be discouraged,
for this hinders our spiritual fervency;
Enable us to undertake some task for thee,
for this refreshes and animates our soul,
so that we could endure all hardships and labours,
and willingly suffer for thy name.
But, O what a death it is to strive and labour,
to be always in a hurry and yet do nothing!
Alas, time flies and we are of little use.
O that we could be a flame of fire in thy service,
always burning out in one continual blaze.
Fit us for singular usefulness in this world.
Fit us to exult in distresses of every kind
if they but promote the advancement of thy kingdom.
Fit us to quit all hopes of the world?s friendship,
and give us a deeper sense of our sinfulness.
Fit us to accept as just desert from thee
any trial that may befall us.
Fit us to be totally resigned to the denial of pleasures we desire,
and to be content to spend our time with thee.
Fit us to pray with a sense of the joy of divine communion,
to find all times happy seasons to our soul,
to see our own nothingness,
and wonder that we are allowed to serve thee.
Fit us to enter the blessed world where no unclean thing is,
and to know thee with us always.
THINGS NEEDFUL
THOU ETERNAL SOURCE,
Author of all created being and happiness,
we adore thee for making man capable of religion,
that he may be taught to say:
?Where is God, our Maker, who giveth songs in the night??
But degeneracy has spread over our human race,
turning glory into shame,
rendering us forgetful of thee.
We know it is thy power alone
that can recall wandering children,
can impress on them a sense of divine things,
and can render that sense lasting and effectual;
From thee proceed all good purposes and desires,
and the diffusing of piety and happiness.
Thou hast knowledge of our soul?s secret principles,
and art aware of our desire to spread the gospel.
Make us an almoner to give thy bounties to the indigent,
comfort to the mentally ill,
restoration to the sin-diseased,
hope to the despairing,
joy to the sorrowing,
love to the prodigals.
Blow away the ashes of unbelief by thy Spirit?s breath
and give us light, fire, and warmth of love.
we need spiritual comforts
that are gentle, peaceful, mild, refreshing,
that will melt us into conscious lowliness before thee,
that will make us feel and rest in thee as our All.
Fill the garden of our soul with the wind of love,
that the scents of the Christian life may be wafted to others;
then come and gather fruits to thy glory.
So shall we fulfil the great end of our being ?
to glorify thee and be a blessing to men.
HUMILITY IN SERVICE
MIGHTY GOD,
we humble ourself for faculties misused,
opportunities neglected,
words ill-advised,
we repent of our folly and inconsiderate ways,
my broken resolutions, untrue service,
my backsliding steps,
my vain thoughts.
O bury our sins in the ocean of Jesus? blood
and let no evil result from our fretful temper,
unseemly behaviour, provoking pettiness.
If by unkindness we have wounded or hurt another,
do thou pour in the balm of heavenly consolation;
If we have turned coldly from need, misery, grief,
do not in just anger forsake us:
If we have withheld relief from penury and pain,
do not withhold thy gracious bounty from us.
If we have shunned those who have offended us,
keep open the door of thy heart to our need.
Fill us with an over-flowing ocean of compassion,
the reign of love our motive,
the law of love our rule.
O thou God of all grace, make us more thankful, more humble;
Inspire us with a deep sense of our unworthiness
arising from the depravity of our nature,
my omitted duties,
my unimproved advantages,
thy commands violated by us.
With all our calls to gratitude and joy may we remember
that we have reason for sorrow and humiliation;
O give us repentance unto life;
Cement our oneness with our blessed Lord,
that faith may adhere to him more immovably,
that love may entwine itself round him more tightly,
that his Spirit may pervade every fibre of our being.
Then send us out to make him known to our fellow-men.
THE SERVANT IN BATTLE
O LORD,
we bless thee that the issue of the battle between thyself and Satan
has never been uncertain, and will end in victory.
Calvary broke the dragon?s head,
and we contend with a vanquished foe,
who with all his subtlety and strength has already been overcome.
When we feel the serpent at our heel
may we remember him whose heel was bruised,
but who, when bruised, broke the devil?s head.
Our soul with inward joy extols the mighty conqueror.
Heal us of any wounds received in the great conflict;
if we have gathered defilement,
if our faith has suffered damage,
if our hope is less than bright,
if our love is not fervent,
if some creature-comfort occupies our heart,
if our soul sinks under pressure of the fight.
O thou whose every promise is balm,
every touch life,
draw near to thy weary warrior,
refresh us, that we may rise again to wage the strife,
and never tire until our enemy is trodden down.
Give us such fellowship with thee
that we may defy Satan, unbelief, the flesh, the world,
with delight that comes not from a creature,
and which a creature cannot mar.
Give us a draught of the eternal fountain
that lieth in thy immutable, everlasting love and decree.
Then shall our hand never weaken,
my feet never stumble,
my sword never rest,
my shield never rust,
my helmet never shatter,
my breastplate never fall,
as our strength rests in the power of thy might.
VAIN SERVICE
O our LORD,
Forgive us for serving thee in sinful ways?
by glorying in our own strength,
by forcing ourself to minister through necessity,
by accepting the applause of others,
by trusting in assumed grace and spiritual affection,
by a faith that rests upon our hold on Christ, not on him alone,
by having another foundation to stand upon beside thee;
for thus we make flesh our arm.
Help us to see
that it is faith stirred by grace that does the deed,
that faith brings a man nearer to thee,
raising him above mere man,
that thou dost act upon the soul
when thus elevated and lifted out of itself,
that faith centres in thee as God all-sufficient,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
as God efficient,
mediately, as in thy commands and promises,
immediately, in all the hidden power
that faith sees and knows to be in thee,
abundantly, with omnipotent effect,
in the revelation of thy will.
If we have not such faith we are nothing.
It is our duty to set thee above all others in mind and eye;
But it is our sin that we place ourself above thee.
Lord, it is the special evil of sin
that every breach of thy law arises from contempt of thy Person,
from despising thee and thy glory,
from preferring things before thee.
Help us to abhor ourself in comparison of thee,
And keep us in a faith that works by love,
and serves by grace.
LOVE REST IN GOD
MY DEAR LORD
we depend wholly upon thee,
wean us from all other dependences.
Thou art our all, thou dost overrule all and delight in us.
Thou art the foundation of goodness,
how can we distrust thee?
how be anxious about what happens to us?
In the light of thy preciousness
the world and all its enjoyments are infinitely poor:
we value the favour of men no more than pebbles.
Amid the blessings we receive from thee
may we never lose the heart of a stranger.
May we love thee, our benefactor, in all our benefits,
not forgetting that our greatest danger arises from our advantages.
Produce in us self-despair that will make Jesus precious to us,
delightful in all his offices,
pleasurable in all his ways,
and may we love his commands as well as his promises.
Help us to discern between true and false love,
the one consisting of supreme love to thee, the other not,
the former uniting thy glory and man?s happiness
that they may become one common interest,
the latter disjointing and separating them both,
seeking the latter with neglect of the former.
Teach us that genuine love is different in kind
from that wrought by rational arguments
or the motive of self-interest,
that such love is a pleasing passion affording
joy to the mind where it is.
Grant us grace to distinguish between the genuine and the false,
and to rest in thee who art all love.
A DISCIPLE?S RENEWAL
O our SAVIOUR,
Help us.
we are so slow to learn,
so prone to forget,
so weak to climb;
we are in the foothills when we should be on the heights;
we are pained by our graceless heart,
my prayerless days,
my poverty of love,
my sloth in the heavenly race,
my sullied conscience,
my wasted hours,
my unspent opportunities.
we are blind while light shines around us:
take the scales from our eyes,
grind to dust the evil heart of unbelief.
Make it our chiefest joy to study thee,
meditate on thee,
gaze on thee,
sit like Mary at thy feet,
lean like John on thy breast,
appeal like Peter to thy love,
count like Paul all things dung.
Give us increase and progress in grace
so that there may be more decision in our character,
more vigour in our purposes,
more elevation in our life,
more fervour in our devotion,
more constancy in our zeal.
As we have a position in the world,
keep us from making the world our position;
May we never seek in the creature
what can be found only in the Creator;
Let not faith cease from seeking thee until it vanishes into sight.
Ride forth in us, thou King of kings and Lord of lords,
that we may live victoriously, and in victory attain our end.
A MINISTER?S EVILS
BLESSED SPIRIT OF GOD,
Four evils attend our ministry?
The devil treads us down by discouragement and shame
arising from coldness in private meditation.
Carelessness possesses us from natural dullness and dimness of spirit;
because in the past we have met with success
and been highly regarded,
so that it does not matter if we have now failed.
Infirmities and weakness are mine from want of spiritual light, life and
power,
so that souls have not been helped,
and we have not felt thee to be near.
Lack of success has followed even when we have done our best.
But thou hast shown us that the glory of everything
that is sanctified to do good is not seen in itself,
but in the source of its sanctification.
Thus our end in preaching is to know Christ,
and impart his truth;
my principle in preaching is Christ himself, whom we trust,
for in him is fullness of spirit and strength;
my comfort in preaching is to do all for him.
Help us in our work to grow more humble,
to pick something out of all providences to that end,
to joy in thee and loathe ourself,
to keep our life, being, soul, and body only for thee,
to carry our heart to thee in love and delight,
to see all our grace in thee, coming from thee,
to walk with thee in endearment.
Then, whether we succeed or fail,
nought matters but thee alone.
A MINISTER?S PRAYER
O our LORD,
Let not our ministry be approved only by men,
or merely win the esteem and affections of people;
But do the work of grace in their hearts,
call in thy elect,
seal and edify the regenerate ones,
and command eternal blessings on their souls.
Save us from self-opinion and self-seeking;
Water the hearts of those who hear thy Word,
that seed sown in weakness may be raised in power;
Cause us and those that hear us
to behold thee here in the light of special faith,
and hereafter in the blaze of endless glory;
Make our every sermon a means of grace to ourself,
and help us to experience the power of thy dying love,
for thy blood is balm,
thy presence bliss,
thy smile heaven,
thy cross the place where truth and mercy meet.
Look upon the doubts and discouragements of our ministry
and keep us from self-importance;
we beg pardon for our many sins, omissions, infirmities,
as a man, as a minister;
Command thy blessing on our weak, unworthy labours,
and on the message of salvation given;
Stay with thy people,
and may thy presence be their portion and mine.
when we preach to others
let not our words be merely elegant and masterly,
my reasoning polished and refined,
my performance powerless and tasteless,
but may we exalt thee and humble sinners.
O Lord of power and grace,
all hearts are in thy hands,
all events at thy disposal,
set the seal of thy almighty will upon our ministry.
A MINISTER?S CONFESSION
O GOD,
we know that we often do thy work without thy power,
and sin by our dead, heartless, blind service,
my lack of inward light, love, delight,
my mind, heart, tongue moving without thy help.
we see sin in our heart in seeking the approbation of others;
This is our vileness, to make men?s opinion our rule,
whereas we should see what good we have done,
and give thee glory,
consider what sin we have committed
and mourn for that.
It is our deceit to preach, and pray,
and to stir up others? spiritual affections
in order to beget commendations,
whereas our rule should be daily
to consider ourself more vile than any man in our own eyes.
But thou dost show thy power by our frailty,
so that the more feeble we are, the more fit to be used,
for thou dost pitch a tent of grace in our weakness.
Help us to rejoice in our infirmities
and give thee praise,
to acknowledge our deficiencies before others
and not be discouraged by them,
that they may see thy glory more clearly.
Teach us that we must act by a power supernatural,
whereby we can attempt things above our strength,
and bear evils beyond our strength,
acting for Christ in all,
and have his superior power to help us.
Let us learn of Paul
whose presence was mean,
his weakness great,
his utterance contemptible,
yet thou didst account him faithful and blessed.
Lord, let us lean on thee as he did,
and find our ministry thine.
A MINISTER?S STRENGTH
UNCHANGEABLE JEHOVAH
When we are discouraged in our ministry
and full of doubts of our self,
fasten us upon the rock of thy eternal election,
then our hands will not hang down,
and we shall have hope for ourself and others.
Thou dost know thy people by name,
and wilt at the appointed season
lead them out of a natural to a gracious state
by thy effectual calling.
This is the ground of our salvation,
the object of our desire,
the motive of our ministry.
Keep us from high thoughts of ourself or our work,
for we are nothing but sin and weakness;
in us no good dwells,
and our best works are but sin.
Humble us to the dust before thee.
Root and tear out the poisonous weed of self-righteousness,
and show us our utter nothingness;
Keep us sensible of our sinnership;
Sink us deeper into penitence and self-abhorrence;
Break the Dagon of pride in pieces before the ark of thy presence;
Demolish the Babel of self-opinion,
and scatter it to the wind;
Level to the ground our Jericho walls of a rebel heart;
Then grace, grace, will be our experience and cry.
we are a poor, feeble creature when faith is not in exercise,
like an eagle with pinioned wings;
Grant us to rest on thy power and faithfulness,
and to know that there are two things worth living for:
to further thy cause in the world, and
to do good to the souls and bodies of men;
This is our ministry, our life, our prayer, our end.
Grant us grace that we shall not fail.
A MINISTER?S PRAISES
O GOD, our EXCEEDING JOY,
Singing thy praises uplifts our heart,
for thou art a fountain of delight,
and dost bless the soul that joys in thee.
But because of our heart?s rebellion
we cannot always praise thee as we ought;
Yet we will at all times rest ourself
in thy excellences, goodness, and loving-kindness.
Thou art in Jesus the object of inexpressible joy,
and we take exceeding pleasure in the thought of thee.
But Lord, we are sometimes thy enemy;
my nature revolts and wanders from thee.
Though thou hast renewed us,
yet evil corruptions urge us still to oppose thee.
Help us to extol thee with entire heart-submission,
to be diligent in self-examination,
to ask ourself
whether we are truly born again,
whether our spirit is the spirit of thy children,
whether our griefs are those that tear repenting hearts,
whether our joys are the joys of faith,
whether our confidence in Christ works by love
and purifies the soul.
Give us the sweet results of faith,
in our secret character, and in our public life.
Cast cords of love around our heart,
then hold us and never let us go.
May the Saviour?s wounds sway us more than the sceptre of princes.
Let us love thee in a love that covers and swallows up all,
that we may not violate our chaste union with the beloved;
There is much unconquered territory in our nature,
scourge out the buyers and sellers of our soul?s temple,
and give us in return pure desires,
and longings after perfect holiness.
A MINISTER?S BIBLE
O GOD OF TRUTH,
we thank thee for the holy Scriptures,
their precepts, promises, directions, light.
In them may we learn more of Christ,
be enabled to retain his truth
and have grace to follow it.
Help us to lift up the gates of our soul that he may come in
and show us himself when we search the Scriptures,
for we have no lines to fathom its depths,
no wings to soar to its heights.
By his aid may we be enabled to explore all its truths,
love them with all our heart,
embrace them with all our power,
engraft them into our life.
Bless to our soul all grains of truth garnered from thy Word;
may they take deep root,
be refreshed by heavenly dew,
be ripened by heavenly rays,
be harvested to our joy and thy praise.
Help us to gain profit by what we read,
as treasure beyond all treasure,
a fountain which can replenish our dry heart,
its waters flowing through us as a perennial river
on-drawn by thy Holy Spirit.
Enable us to distil from its pages
faithful prayer that grasps the arm of thy omnipotence,
achieves wonders,
obtains blessings, and
draws down streams of mercy.
From it show us how our words have often been
unfaithful to thee,
injurious to our fellow-men,
empty of grace,
full of folly,
dishonouring to our calling.
Then write thy own words upon our heart and inscribe them on our lips;
So shall all glory be to thee in our reading of thy Word!
A MINISTER?S PREACHING
MY MASTER GOD,
we are desired to preach today,
but go weak and needy to our task;
Yet we long that people might be edified with divine truth,
that an honest testimony might be borne for thee;
Give us assistance in preaching and prayer,
with heart uplifted for grace and unction.
Present to our view things pertinent to our subject,
with fullness of matter and clarity of thought,
proper expressions, fluency, fervency,
a feeling sense of the things we preach,
and grace to apply them to men?s consciences.
Keep us conscious all the while of our defects,
and let us not gloat in pride over our performance.
Help us to offer a testimony for thyself,
and to leave sinners inexcusable in neglecting thy mercy.
Give us freedom to open the sorrows of thy people,
and to set before them comforting considerations.
Attend with power the truth preached,
and awaken the attention of our slothful audience.
May thy people be refreshed, melted, convicted, comforted,
and help us to use the strongest arguments
drawn from Christ?s incarnation and sufferings,
that men might be made holy.
we ourself need thy support, comfort, strength, holiness,
that we might be a pure channel of thy grace,
and be able to do something for thee;
Give us then refreshment among thy people,
and help us not to treat excellent matter in a defective way,
or bear a broken testimony to so worthy a Redeemer,
or be harsh in treating of Christ?s death, its design and end,
from lack of warmth and fervency.
And keep us in tune with thee as we do this work.
SCRIPTURAL CONVICTIONS
O GOD OF LOVE,
we approach thee with encouragements derived from thy character,
for we are not left to feel after thee in the darkness of our nature,
nor to worship thee as the unknown God.
we cannot find out thy perfections, but we know thou art good,
ready to forgive, plenteous in mercy.
Thou hast displayed thy wisdom, power, and goodness in all thy works,
and hast revealed thy will in the Scripture of truth.
Thou hast caused it to be preserved, translated, published, multiplied,
so that all men may possess it and find thee in it.
Here we see thy greatness and thy grace,
thy pity and thy rectitude,
thy mercy and thy truth,
thy being and men?s hearts;
Through it thou hast magnified thy name,
and favoured mankind with the gospel.
Have mercy on us,
for we have ungratefully received thy benefits,
little improved our privileges,
made light of spiritual things,
disregarded thy messages,
contended with examples of the good,
rebukes of conscience,
admonitions of friends,
leadings of providence.
we deserve that thy kingdom be taken away from us.
Lord, we confess our sin with feeling, lamentation, a broken heart,
a contrite spirit, self-abhorrence, self-condemnation, self-despair.
Give us relief by Jesus our hope,
faith in his name of Saviour,
forgiveness by his blood,
strength by his presence,
holiness by his Spirit:
And let us love thee with all our heart.
LORD?S DAY EVE
GOD OF THE PASSING HOUR,
Another week has gone and we have been preserved
in our going out,
in our coming in.
Thine has been the vigilance that has turned threatened evils aside;
Thine the supplies that have nourished us;
Thine the comforts that have indulged us;
Thine the relations and friends that have delighted us;
Thine the means of grace which have edified us;
Thine the Book, which, amidst all our enjoyments,
has told us that this is not our rest,
that in all successes one thing alone is needful,
to love our Saviour.
Nothing can equal the number of thy mercies
but our imperfections and sins.
These, O God, we will neither conceal nor palliate,
but confess with a broken heart.
In what condition would secret reviews of our life leave us
were it not for the assurance
that with thee there is plenteous redemption,
that thou art a forgiving God,
that thou mayest be feared!
While we hope for pardon through the blood of the cross,
we pray to be clothed with humility,
to be quickened in thy way,
to be more devoted to thee,
to keep the end of our life in view,
to be cured of the folly of delay and indecision,
to know how frail we are,
to number our days and apply our heart unto wisdom.
THE LORD?S DAY
O LORD our LORD,
This is thy day,
the heavenly ordinance of rest,
the open door of worship,
the record of Jesus? resurrection,
the seal of the sabbath to come,
the day when saints militant and triumphant unite in endless song.
we bless thee for the throne of grace,
that here free favour reigns;
that open access to it is through the blood of Jesus;
that the veil is torn aside and we can enter the holiest
and find thee ready to hear,
waiting to be gracious,
inviting us to pour out our needs,
encouraging our desires,
promising to give more than we ask or think.
But while we bless thee, shame and confusion are mine:
we remember our past misuse of sacred things,
my irreverent worship,
my base ingratitude,
my cold, dull praise.
Sprinkle all our past sabbaths with the cleansing blood of Jesus,
and may this day witness deep improvement in us.
Give us in rich abundance
the blessings the Lord?s Day was designed to impart;
May our heart be fast bound against worldly thoughts or cares;
Flood our mind with peace beyond understanding;
may our meditations be sweet,
my acts of worship life, liberty, joy,
my drink the streams that flow from thy throne,
my food the precious Word,
my defence the shield of faith,
and may our heart be more knit to Jesus.
LORD?S DAY MORNING
O MAKER AND UPHOLDER OF ALL THINGS,
Day and night are thine; they are also mine from thee?
the night to rid us of the cares of the day,
to refresh our weary body,
to renew our natural strength;
the day to summon us to new activities,
to give us opportunity to glorify thee,
to serve our generation,
to acquire knowledge, holiness, eternal life.
But one day above all days is made especially
for thy honour and our improvement;
The sabbath reminds us of thy rest from creation,
of the resurrection of our Saviour,
of his entering into repose.
Thy house is mine,
but we are unworthy to meet thee there,
and are unfit for spiritual service.
When we enter it we come before thee as a sinner,
condemned by conscience and thy Word,
For we are still in the body and in the wilderness,
ignorant, weak, in danger,
and in need of thine aid.
But encouraged by thy all-sufficient grace
let us go to thy house with a lively hope of meeting thee,
knowing that there thou wilt come to us and give us peace.
Our soul is drawn out to thee in longing desires for thy presence
in the sanctuary,
at the table,
where all are entertained on a feast of good things;
Let us before the broken elements, emblems of thy dying love,
cry to thee with broken heart for grace and forgiveness.
we long for that blissful communion of thy people
in thy eternal house in the perfect kingdom;
These are they that follow the Lamb;
May we be of their company!
WORSHIP
GLORIOUS GOD,
It is the flame of our life to worship thee,
the crown and glory of our soul to adore thee,
heavenly pleasure to approach thee.
Give us power by thy Spirit to help us worship now,
that we may forget the world,
be brought into fullness of life,
be refreshed, comforted, blessed.
Give us knowledge of thy goodness
that we might not be over-awed by thy greatness;
Give us Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God,
that we might not be terrified,
but be drawn near with filial love,
with holy boldness;
He is our Mediator, Brother, Interpreter,
Branch, Daysman, Lamb;
him we glorify,
in him we are set on high.
Crowns to give we have none,
but what thou hast given we return,
content to feel that everything is mine when it is thine,
and the more fully mine when we have yielded it to thee.
Let us live wholly to our Saviour,
free from distractions,
from carking care,
from hindrances to the pursuit of the narrow way.
we are pardoned through the blood of Jesus?
give us a new sense of it,
continue to pardon us by it,
may we come every day to the fountain,
and every day be washed anew,
that we may worship thee always in spirit and truth.
THE LORD?S SUPPER
GOD OF ALL GOOD,
we bless thee for the means of grace;
teach us to see in them thy loving purposes
and the joy and strength of our soul.
Thou hast prepared for us a feast;
and though we are unworthy to sit down as guest,
we wholly rest on the merits of Jesus,
and hide ourself beneath his righteousness;
When we hear his tender invitation and see his wondrous grace,
we cannot hesitate, but must come to thee in love.
By thy Spirit enliven our faith
rightly to discern and spiritually to apprehend the Saviour.
While we gaze upon the emblems of our Saviour?s death,
may we ponder why he died, and hear him say,
?we gave our life to purchase yours,
presented ourself an offering to expiate your sin,
shed our blood to blot out your guilt,
opened our side to make you clean,
endured your curses to set you free,
bore your condemnation to satisfy divine justice.?
O may we rightly grasp the breadth and length of this design,
draw near, obey, extend the hand,
take the bread, receive the cup,
eat and drink,
testify before all men that we do for ourself, gladly, in faith,
reverence and love, receive our Lord,
to be our life, strength, nourishment, joy, delight.
In the supper we remember his eternal love, boundless grace,
infinite compassion, agony,
cross, redemption,
and receive assurance
of pardon, adoption, life, glory.
As the outward elements nourish our body,
so may thy indwelling Spirit invigorate our soul,
until that day when we hunger and thirst no more,
and sit with Jesus at his heavenly feast.
THE MINISTER BEFORE SACRAMENT
LORD,
Teach us the nature of a sacrament as a seal and pledge of love,
that Christ is faithful to make himself a present reality to his own
who are guests at his table.
Assure us by it
that his Word is made good to our faith,
that he by sacramental union is given to us,
that we shall have strength not to fall into sin,
that his life begun in us will be perfected hereafter,
that our covenant with him is confirmed,
that he gives himself to all who take him thankfully.
As we come to the feast, help us to recall our neglect of duties
towards ourself, our family, church, friends,
by not instructing, exhorting, being an example.
Grant us to see our ignorance, not knowing how or what to pray,
my unsavouriness, not delighting in,
but loathing to speak for thee,
my pride, because we would not speak what we could
from fear of not doing it well,
my lukewarmness, in not reaching for thy glory,
my idleness and sloth,
my want of tender love,
my apprehension of unfruitfulness
in case we should attempt and do no good,
and hence sow seed upon rocks.
Let us know that even if we have done right,
yet we must lament the principles that caused our neglect,
that good duties might be done or omitted
out of ill principles or motives,
and only when these are dealt with shall we know
what is our duty and its extent.
Heal us now, as we approach thy table,
and fill us with all grace,
with thyself.
LORD?S DAY EVENING
MOST HOLY GOD,
May the close of an earthly sabbath remind us
that the last of them will one day end.
Animate us with joy that in heaven praise will never cease,
that adoration will continue for ever,
that no flesh will grow weary,
no congregations disperse,
no affections flag,
no thoughts wander,
no will droop,
but all will be adoring love.
Guard our mind from making ordinances our stay or trust,
from hewing out broken cisterns,
from resting on outward helps.
Wing us through earthly forms to thy immediate presence;
May our feeble prayers show us the emptiness and vanity of our sins;
Deepen in us the conviction that our most fervent prayers,
and most lowly confessions, need to be repented of.
May our best services bring us nearer to the cross,
and prompt us to cry, ?None but Jesus!?
By thy Spirit give abiding life to the lessons of this day:
May the seed sown take deep root and yield a full harvest.
Let all who see us take knowledge
that we have been with thee
that thou hast taught us our need as a sinner,
hast revealed a finished salvation to us,
hast enriched us with all spiritual blessings,
hast chosen us to show forth Jesus to others,
hast helped us to dispel the mists of unbelief.
O great Creator, mighty Protector, gracious Preserver,
thou dost load us with loving kindnesses,
and hast made us thy purchased possession,
and redeemed us from all guilt;
we praise and bless thee for our sabbath rest,
my calm conscience,
my peace of heart.
THE MINISTER?S COVENANT
LORD JESUS,
True God, everlasting Life, Redeemer of sinners,
we give our body, soul, intellect, will, affections to thee.
we call the day, sun, earth, trees, stones, wind, rain, frost, snow,
my home, bed, table, food, books, drink, clothes,
to witness that we come to thee for rest of soul
from the thunders of guilt and dread of eternity.
Grant us a circumcised heart that we may love thee,
a right spirit that we may seek thy glory.
a principle within which thou wilt own,
an interest in the blood that cleanses,
the righteousness that justifies,
the redemption that delivers,
that we may not be found a hypocrite on Judgment Day.
For the sake of thy cruel death
take our time, strength, gifts, talents, usefulness, piety,
which in full purpose of heart we consecrate to thee.
Let not sin find a place in our heart to becloud our vision,
and may no foolish act wither our gifts.
Preserve us from the falls by which others stumble,
that thy name may not be blasphemed or wounded,
that thy people may not be grieved,
that thine enemies may not be hardened,
that our peace may not be injured.
Give us a heart full of love to thyself and to others.
Let us discover in this life what we are before thee,
that we may not find ourself another character hereafter.
Prepare us for death,
that we may not die after long affliction or suddenly,
but after short illness, with no confusion or disorder,
and a quiet discharge in peace, with adieu to brethren.
Let not our days end like lumber in a house,
but give us a silent removing from one world to another.
Inscribe these petitions in thy book, present them to thy Father,
Set thine Amen to them,
as we do on our part of the covenant.


9. Valediction
EARTH AND HEAVEN
O LORD,
we live here as a fish in a vessel of water,
only enough to keep us alive,
but in heaven we shall swim in the ocean.
Here we have a little air in us to keep us breathing,
but there we shall have sweet and fresh gales;
Here we have a beam of sun to lighten our darkness,
a warm ray to keep us from freezing;
yonder we shall live in light and warmth for ever.
Our natural desires are corrupt and misguided,
and it is thy mercy to destroy them;
Our spiritual longings are of thy planting,
and thou wilt water and increase them;
Quicken our hunger and thirst after the realm above.
Here we can have the world,
there we shall have thee in Christ;
Here is a life of longing and prayer,
there is assurance without suspicion,
asking without refusal;
Here are gross comforts, more burden than benefit,
there is joy without sorrow,
comfort without suffering,
love without inconstancy,
rest without weariness.
Give us to know that heaven is all love,
where the eye affects the heart,
and the continual viewing of thy beauty
keeps the soul in continual transports of delight.
Give us to know that heaven is all peace,
where error, pride, rebellion, passion raise no head.
Give us to know that heaven is all joy,
the end of believing, fasting, praying, mourning,
humbling, watching, fearing, repining;
And lead us to it soon.
HEAVEN DESIRED
O our LORD,
May we arrive where means of grace cease
and we need no more to fast, pray, weep, watch, be tempted,
attend preaching and sacrament;
where nothing defiles,
where is no grief, sorrow, sin, death, separation, tears,
pale face, languid body, aching joints, feeble infancy,
decrepit age, peccant humours, pining sickness,
griping fears, consuming cares;
where is personal completeness;
where the more perfect the sight, the more beautiful the object,
the more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food,
the more musical the ear, the more pleasant the melody,
the more complete the soul, the more happy its joys,
where is full knowledge of thee.
Here we are an ant, and as we view a nest of ants
so dost thou view us and our fellow-creatures;
But as an ant knows not us, our nature, our thoughts,
so here we cannot know thee clearly.
But there we shall be near thee,
dwell with our family,
stand in thy presence chamber,
be an heir of thy kingdom,
as the spouse of Christ,
as a member of his body,
one with him who is with thee,
and exercise all our powers of body and soul
in the enjoyment of thee.
As praise in the mouth of thy saints is comely,
so teach us to exercise this divine gift,
when we pray, read, hear, see, do,
in the presence of people and of our enemies,
as we hope to praise thee eternally hereafter.
RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT
SUPREME RULER OF THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS,
Our heart is drawn out to thee
for thy amazing grace and condescension.
Thou hast kept our conversion fresh before us,
that season of our first spiritual comfort
when we passed through the Red Sea by a way we did not expect.
we rejoiced then for that unthought-of passage,
that delivered us from the fear of the Egyptian
when we had almost despaired of life.
we rejoice now as these things are fresh and lively in our mind.
Our soul melts when we think of thy days of old with us,
when a poor worthless creature
without wisdom to direct or strength to help ourself
was laid under the happy necessity of living upon thee
and finding thy consolations large.
Thou art our divine treasury in whom all fullness dwells,
my life, hope, joy, peace, glory, end;
May we be daily more and more conformed to thee,
with the meekness and calmness of the Lamb in our soul,
and a feeling sense of the felicity of heaven,
where we long to join angels free from imperfections,
where in us the image of our adored Saviour
will be completely restored,
so that we may be fit for his enjoyments and employments.
we are not afraid to look the king of terrors in the face,
for we know we shall be drawn, not driven, out of the world.
Until then let us continually glow and burn out for thee,
and when the last great change shall come
let us awake in thy likeness,
leaving behind us an example that will glorify thee
while our spirit rejoices in heaven,
and our memory is blessed upon earth,
with those who follow us praising thee for our life.


10. A Week?s Shared Prayers
FIRST DAY MORNING
WORSHIP
O LORD,
We commune with thee every day,
but week days are worldly days,
and secular concerns reduce heavenly impressions.
We bless thee therefore for the day sacred to our souls
when we can wait upon thee and be refreshed;
We thank thee for the institutions of religion
by use of which we draw near to thee and thou to us;
We rejoice in another Lord?s Day
when we call off our minds from the cares of the world
and attend upon thee without distraction;
Let our retirement be devout,
our conversation edifying,
our reading pious,
our hearing profitable,
that our souls may be quickened and elevated.
We are going to the house of prayer,
pour upon us the spirit of grace and supplication;
We are going to the house of praise,
awaken in us every grateful and cheerful emotion;
We are going to the house of instruction,
give testimony to the Word preached,
and glorify it in the hearts of all who hear;
may it enlighten the ignorant,
awaken the careless, reclaim the wandering,
establish the weak, comfort the feeble-minded,
make ready a people for their Lord.
Be a sanctuary to all who cannot come,
Forget not those who never come,
And do thou bestow upon us
benevolence towards our dependants,
forgiveness towards our enemies,
peaceableness towards our neighbours,
openness towards our fellow-Christians.


FIRST DAY EVENING
THE TEACHER
O GOD,
We bless thee,
our Creator, Preserver, Benefactor, Teacher,
for opening to us the volume of nature
where we may read and consider thy works.
Thou hast this day spread before us the fuller pages of revelation,
and in them we see what thou wouldest have us do,
what thou requirest of us,
what thou hast done for us,
what thou hast promised to us,
what thou hast given us in Jesus.
We pray thee for a conscious experience of his salvation,
in our deliverance from sin,
in our bearing his image,
in our enjoying his presence,
in our being upheld by his free Spirit.
Let us not live uncertain of what we are,
of where we are going.
Bear witness with our spirit that we are thy children;
And enable each one to say, ?we know our Redeemer.?
Bless us with a growing sense of this salvation.
If already enlightened in Christ, may we see greater things;
If quickened, may we have more abundant life;
If renewed, let us go on from strength to strength.
Give us closer abiding in Jesus that we may
bring forth more fruit,
have a deeper sense of our obligations to him,
that we may surrender all,
have a fuller joy,
that we may serve him more completely.
And may our faith work by love towards him who died,
towards our fellow-believers,
towards our fellow-men.


SECOND DAY MORNING
GOD OVER ALL
O GOD ALL-SUFFICIENT,
Thou hast made and upholdest all things by the word of thy power;
darkness is thy pavilion,
thou walkest on the wings of the wind;
all nations are nothing before thee;
one generation succeeds another,
and we hasten back to the dust;
the heavens we behold will vanish away
like the clouds that cover them,
the earth we tread on will dissolve
as a morning dream;
But thou, unchangeable and incorruptible,
art for ever and ever,
God over all, blessed eternally.
Infinitely great and glorious art thou.
We are thy offspring and thy care.
Thy hands have made and fashioned us.
Thou hast watched over us with more than parental love,
more than maternal tenderness.
Thou hast holden our soul in life,
and not suffered our feet to be moved.
Thy divine power has given us all things necessary for life and godliness.
Let us bless thee at all times and forget not how thou hast
forgiven our iniquities,
healed our diseases,
redeemed our lives from destruction,
crowned us with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
satisfied our mouths with good things,
renewed our youth like the eagle?s.
May thy Holy Scriptures govern every part of our lives,
and regulate the discharge of all our duties,
so that we may adorn thy doctrine in all things.


SECOND DAY EVENING
BOUNTY
THOU GREAT AND ONLY POTENTATE,
Thou hast made summer and winter, day and night;
each of these revolutions serves our welfare
and is full of thy care and kindness.
Thy bounty is seen in the relations that train us,
the laws that defend us,
the homes that shelter us,
the food that builds us,
the raiment that comforts us,
the continuance of our health, members, senses,
understanding, memory, affection, will.
But as stars fade before the rising sun,
thou hast eclipsed all these benefits
in the wisdom and grace that purposed
redemption by Jesus thy Son.
Blessed be thy mercy that laid help on
one that is mighty and willing,
one that is able to save to the uttermost.
Make us deeply sensible of our need of his saving grace,
of the blood that cleanses,
of the rest he has promised.
And impute to us that righteousness which justifies the guilty,
gives them a title to eternal life, and possession of the Spirit.
May we love the freeness of salvation, and joy in its holiness;
Give us faith to grasp thy promises,
that are our hope,
provide for every exigency,
and prevent every evil;
Keep our hearts from straying after forbidden pleasures;
May thy will bind all our wishes;
Let us live out of the world as to its spirit, maxim, manners,
but live in it as the sphere of our action and usefulness;
May we be alive to every call of duty, accepting without question
thy determination of our circumstances and our service.


THIRD DAY MORNING
GOD CREATOR AND CONTROLLER
MOST HIGH GOD,
The universe with all its myriad creatures is thine,
made by thy word, upheld by thy power, governed by thy will.
But thou art also the Father of mercies,
the God of all grace,
the bestower of all comfort,
the protector of the saved.
Thou hast been mindful of us, hast visited us,
preserved us, given us a goodly heritage?
the Holy Scriptures,
the joyful gospel,
the Saviour of souls,
We come to thee in Jesus? name,
make mention of his righteousness only,
plead his obedience and sufferings
who magnified the law both in its precepts and penalty,
and made it honourable.
May we be justified by his blood,
saved by his life,
joined to his Spirit.
Let us take up his cross and follow him.
May the agency of thy grace prepare us for thy dispensations.
Make us willing that thou shouldest choose our inheritance
and determine what we shall retain or lose, suffer or enjoy;
If blessed with prosperity may we be free from its snares,
and use, not abuse, its advantages;
May we patiently and cheerfully submit to those afflictions which are
necessary.
When we are tempted to wander, hedge up our way,
excite in us abhorrence of sin,
wean us from the present evil world,
Assure us that we shall at last enter Immanuel?s land
where none is ever sick,
and the sun will always shine.
THIRD DAY EVENING
BEFORE SLEEP
GOD OF ALL SOVEREIGNTY,
Thy greatness is unsearchable,
Thy name most excellent,
Thy glory above the heavens;
Ten thousand minister to thee,
Ten thousand times ten thousand stand before thee;
In thy awful presence we are less than nothing.
We do not approach thee because we deserve thy notice,
for we are sinners;
Our necessities compel us,
Thy promises encourage us,
Our broken hearts incite us,
The Mediator draws us,
Thy acceptance of others moves us.
Look thou upon us and be merciful unto us;
Convince us of the penalty and pollution of sin;
Give us faith to believe, and, believing, to have life in Jesus;
May we enter into his sufferings;
Let us see thy hand in the instruments of our grief,
rejoicing that they are from thy over-ruling providence.
Let not our weeping hinder sowing; nor sorrow, duty.
While living in a world of change let us seek the abiding city.
Be with us to our journey?s end
that we may glorify thee in death as in life.
We bless thee for preservation, supplies, mercies,
and to thee, keeper of souls, we commit all we are and have.
May no evil befall us,
no sickness come nigh us,
no horror disturb us!
May our conscience be clear,
our hearts pure,
our sleep sweet!
And with the innumerable company who neither slumber nor rest
we join in ascribing blessing, honour, glory and power
to the Lamb upon the throne, for ever and ever.
FOURTH DAY MORNING
TRUE CHRISTIANITY
LORD OF HEAVEN,
Thy goodness is inexpressible and inconceivable.
In the works of creation thou art almighty,
In the dispensations of providence all-wise,
In the gospel of grace all love,
And in thy Son thou hast provided for
our deliverance from the effects of sin,
the justification of our persons,
the sanctification of our natures,
the perseverance of our souls in the path of life.
Though exposed to the terrors of thy law,
we have a refuge from the storm;
Though compelled to cry, ?Unclean?,
we have a fountain for sin;
Though creature-cells of emptiness
we have a fullness accessible to all, and incapable of reduction.
Grant us always to know that to walk with Jesus
makes other interests a shadow and a dream.
Keep us from intermittent attention to eternal things;
Save us from the delusion of those
who fail to go far in religion,
who are concerned but not converted,
who have another heart but not a new one,
who have light, zeal, confidence, but not Christ.
Let us judge our Christianity, not only by our dependence upon Jesus,
but by our love to him,
our conformity to him,
our knowledge of him.
Give us a religion that is both real and progressive,
that holds on its way and grows stronger,
that lives and works in the Spirit,
that profits by every correction,
and is injured by no carnal indulgence.
FOURTH DAY EVENING
GOD ALL-SUFFICIENT
KING OF GLORY, DIVINE MAJESTY,
Every perfection adorns thy nature and sustains thy throne;
The heavens and earth are thine,
The world is thine and its fullness.
Thy power created the universe from nothing;
Thy wisdom has managed all its multiple concerns,
presiding over nations, families, individuals.
Thy goodness is boundless; all creatures wait on thee
are supplied by thee,
are satisfied in thee.
How precious are the thoughts of thy mercy and grace!
How excellent thy lovingkindness that draws men to thee!
Teach us to place our happiness in thee, the blessed God,
never seeking life among the dead things of earth,
or asking for that which satisfies the deluded;
But may we prize the light of thy smile,
implore the joy of thy salvation,
find our heaven in thee.
Thou hast attended to our happiness more than we can do;
Though we are fallen creatures thou hast not neglected us.
In love and pity thou hast provided us a Saviour;
Apply his redemption to our hearts,
by justifying our persons,
and sanctifying our natures.
We confess our transgressions, have mercy on us.
We are weary, give us rest,
ignorant, make us wise unto salvation,
helpless, let thy strength be made perfect in our weakness,
poor and needy, bless us with Christ?s unsearchable riches,
perplexed and tempted, let us travel on unchecked, undismayed,
knowing that thou hast said,
?we will never leave thee nor forsake thee.?
Blessed be thy name!
FIFTH DAY MORNING
THE GIVER
CREATOR, UPHOLDER AND PROPRIETOR OF ALL THINGS,
We cannot escape from thy presence and control,
nor do we desire to do so.
Our privilege is to be under the agency of thy omnipotence,
righteousness, wisdom, patience, mercy and grace;
For thou art Love with more than parental affection.
We admire thy goodness,
stand in awe of thy power,
abase ourselves before thy purity.
It is the discovery of thy goodness alone
that can banish our fear
allure us into thy presence,
help us to bewail and confess our sins.
We review our past guilt
and are conscious of present unworthiness.
We bless thee that thy steadfast love and attributes
are essential to our happiness and hope;
Thou hast witnessed to us thy grace and mercy
in the bounties of nature,
in the fullness of thy providence,
in the revelations of Scripture,
in the gift of thy Son,
in the proclamation of the gospel.
Make us willing to be saved in thy own way,
perceiving nothing in ourselves but all in Jesus.
Help us not only to receive him
but to walk in him,
depend upon him,
commune with him,
follow him as dear children,
imperfect, but still pressing forward,
not complaining of labour, but valuing rest,
not murmuring under trials, but thankful for our state.
And by so doing let us silence the ignorance of foolish men.
FIFTH DAY EVENING
PROTECTION
O LORD GOD,
Thou art our Preserver, Governor, Saviour, and coming Judge.
Quieten our souls to call upon thy name;
Detach us from the influence of the flesh and the senses;
Impress us with the power of faith;
Promote in us spirituality of mind
that will render our services acceptable to thee,
and delightful and profitable to ourselves.
Bring us into that state which attracts thine eye,
and prepare us to receive the proofs of thy love.
Show us our danger,
that we may fly to thee for refuge.
Make us sensible of our sin?s disease,
that we may value the good Physician.
Placard to us the cross,
that it may slay the enmity of our hearts.
Help us to be watchful over our ways,
jealous over our tempers,
diligent over our hearts.
When we droop, revive us,
When we loiter, quicken us,
When we go astray, restore us.
Possess us with more of that faith
which is the principle of all vital godliness.
May we be rich in faith,
strong in faith,
live by faith,
walk by faith,
experience the joy of faith,
do the work of faith,
hope through faith.
Perceiving nothing in ourselves, may we find in the Saviour
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption.
SIXTH DAY MORNING
THE GOSPEL
O THOU MOST HIGH,
Creator of the ends of the earth,
Governor of the universe,
Judge of all men,
Head of the church,
Saviour of sinners;
thy greatness is unsearchable,
thy goodness infinite,
thy compassions unfailing,
thy providence boundless,
thy mercies ever new.
We bless thee for the words of salvation.
How important, suitable, encouraging
are the doctrines, promises, and invitations of the gospel of peace!
We are lost: but in it thou hast presented to us
a full, free and eternal salvation;
weak: but here we learn that help is found in One that is mighty,
poor: but in him we discover unsearchable riches,
blind: but we find he has treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
We thank thee for thy unspeakable gift.
Thy Son is our only refuge, foundation, hope, confidence;
We depend upon his death,
rest in his righteousness,
desire to bear his image;
May his glory fill our minds,
his love reign in our affections,
his cross inflame us with ardour.
Let us as Christians fill our various situations in life,
escape the snares to which they expose us,
discharge the duties that arise from our
circumstances,
enjoy with moderation their advantages,
improve with diligence their usefulness,
And may every place and company we are in be benefited by us.
SIXTH DAY EVENING
THE MEDIATOR
O GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB,
We hope in thy Word.
There we see thee, not on a fearful throne of judgment,
but on a throne of grace, waiting to be gracious and exalted in mercy.
There we hear thee saying, not ?Depart ye cursed?,
but ?Look unto us and be ye saved,
for we are God and there is none else.?
They that know thy name put their trust in thee.
How many now glorified in heaven, and what numbers living on earth,
are thy witnesses, O God,
exemplifying in their recovery from the ruins of the Fall
the freeness, riches and efficacy of thy grace!
All that were ever saved were saved by thee,
and will through eternity exclaim, ?Not unto us,
but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and truth?s sake.?
Thou hast chosen to transact all thy concerns with us through a Mediator
in whom all fullness dwells
and who is exalted to be Prince and Saviour.
To him we look, on him we depend, through him we are justified.
May we derive relief from his sufferings without ceasing to abhor sin,
or to long after holiness;
feel the double efficacy of his blood, tranquillizing and cleansing
our consciences;
delight in his service as well as in his sacrifice;
be constrained by his love to live not to ourselves but to him;
cherish a grateful and cheerful disposition,
not murmuring and repining if our wishes are not indulged,
or because some trials are blended with our enjoyments,
But, sensible of our desert,
and impressed with the number and greatness of thy benefits,
may we bless and praise thee at all times.
SEVENTH DAY MORNING
GOD?S GOOD PLEASURE
SOVEREIGN LORD,
Thy will is supreme in heaven and earth,
and all beings are creatures of thy power.
Thou art the Father of our spirits;
thy inspiration gives us understanding,
thy providence governs our lives.
But, O God, we are sinners in thy sight;
thou hast judged us so,
and if we deny it we make thee a liar.
Yet in Christ thou art reconciled to thy rebellious subjects;
give us the ear of faith to hear him,
the eye of faith to see him,
the hand of faith to receive him,
the appetite of faith to feed upon him;
that we might find in him light, riches, honour, eternal life.
Thou art the inviting One, may we hearken to thee;
the Almighty Instructor, teach us to live to thee;
the Light-Dweller, inaccessible to man and angels,
hiding thyself behind the elements of creation,
but known to us in Jesus;
Possess our minds with the grandeur of thy perfections.
Thy love to us in Jesus is firm and changeless,
nothing can separate us from it,
and in the enjoyment of it nothing can make us miserable.
Preserve us from hypocrisy and formality in religion;
Enable us to remember what thou art and what we are,
to recall thy holiness and our unworthiness;
Help us to approach thee clothed with humility,
for vanity, forwardness, insensibility, disorderly affection, backwardness to duty,
proneness to evil are in our hearts.
Let us never forget thy patience, wisdom, power, faithfulness, care,
and never cease to respond to thy invitations.
SEVENTH DAY EVENING
FUTURE BLESSINGS
O LORD GOD,
There is no blessing we implore but thou art able to give,
hast promised to give,
hast given already to countless multitudes,
all unworthy and guilty like ourselves;
Make us willing to receive the supply of our need from thy bounty.
To this end convince us of sin,
soften our hard hearts,
to bewail our folly, ingratitude, pride,
unbelief, rebellion, corruption.
Through the law may we die to the law,
then look with wonder, submission, delight,
to the provision thou hast made for the glory of thy Name
in the salvation of sinners.
Give us a hope that makes us not ashamed,
a love that excites to holy obedience,
a joy in thee that is our strength,
a faith in thy Son who loved us and died for us.
May we persevere in duty when not fully conscious of thee,
wait upon thee and keep thy way,
be humble and earnest suppliants at thy feet,
live continually as on the brink of eternity.
Let us be at thy disposal for the duties and events of life,
submit our preferences to thy wisdom and will,
resign our enjoyments if thou shouldest require it
as our absolute Proprietor and best Friend.
In our unworthiness and provocations make us grateful
for the means of grace and the ordinances of religion
and teach us to profit by them more than we have done.
Help us to be in the Spirit on the Lord?s Day,
to enter upon the sabbath mindful of its solemnities, duties,
privileges,
setting all things worldly aside while we worship thee.
May we know the blessedness of men whose strength is in thee,
and in whose hearts are the highways to heaven.

Bibliography
Baxter Richard, The Saint?s Rest.
Brainerd, David, Diary, Journal and Letters, Melrose, 1902 (Diary and Journal of David
Brainerd republished by the Banner of Truth Trust, 2007).
Bunyan, John, Grace Abounding, London, 1893.
Doddridge, Philip, The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, London, 1892.
Hood, Paxton, Life of Christmas Evans, London 1902.
Jay, William, Prayers for the Use of Families, London, 1840.
Law, Henry, Family Prayers, London, 1869.
Romaine, William, The Walk of Faith, London, 1819.
Shepard, Thomas, Works, Vol. 3, Boston, U.S.A., 1853.
Spurgeon, C. H., The Pastor in Prayer, Pasadena, U.S.A., 1971 (republished by the Banner of
Truth Trust, 2004, based on the 2nd London edition of 1893).
Toplady, Augustus M., Works, Vol. I, London, 1825.
Watson, Thomas, The Lord?s Prayer, London, 1960 (Banner of Truth).
Watts, Isaac, ?A Guide to Prayer? (Works, Vol. 3), London, 1810 (republished by the Banner
of Truth Trust, 2001).
Williams, William, Free translations from Y Caniedydd Cynulleid-faol Newydd, Swansea,
1921.
The Editor is responsible for the titles, ascriptions and structure of the prayers in this
present volume, and for the introductory prayer, ?The Valley of Vision?.
Also Available in ePub and Kindle format?from 1st January,
2015.
(See Banner of Truth website for latest releases)
The Acceptable Sacrifice
(John Bunyan)
The Agency that Transformed a Nation
(J.C. Ryle)
The Art of Prophesying
(William Perkins)
Behind a Frowning Providence
(John J. Murray)
Born of God
(D.M. Lloyd-Jones)
A Call to Prayer
(J.C. Ryle)
Christ?s Glorious Achievements
(C.H. Spurgeon)
The Christian?s Great Enemy
(John Brown)
Confessing the Faith
(Chad Van Dixhoorn)
The Cross He Bore
(Frederick Leahy)
Deserted by God
(Sinclair B. Ferguson)
Discovering God?s Will
(Sinclair B. Ferguson)
Facing Grief
(John Flavel)
The Faith-shaped Life
(Ian Hamilton)
The Free Offer of the Gospel
(John Murray)
From the Mouth of God
(Sinclair B. Ferguson)
God Made them great
(John Tallach)
God?s Light on Dark Clouds
(Theodore L. Cuyler)
Heaven and Hell
(Edward A. Donnelly)
Indwelling sin
(John Owen)
Joseph: His arms were made strong
(David Searle)
Josiah?s Reformation
(Richard Sibbes)
The Loveliness of Christ
(Samuel Rutherford)
The Mortification of Sin
(John Owen)
Our God Is True
(Paul D. Wolfe)
Old Paths
(J.C. Ryle)
Peter: Eyewitness of His Majesty
(Edward A. Donnelly)
Power in the Pulpit
(Henry C. Fish)
Practical Religion
(J.C. Ryle)
Prayer: A Biblical Perspective
(Eric J. Alexander)
Redemption Accomplished and Applied
(John Murray)
Right with God
(John Blanchard)
Samuel Rutherford and his Friends
(Faith Cook)
Sermons of R. M. M'Cheyne
(R.M. M'Cheyne)
Setting our Sights on Heaven
(Paul D. Wolfe)
Silent Witnesses
(Garry J. Williams)
This God our God
(Archibald G. Brown)
The Valley of Vision
(Arthur Bennett)
Voices from the Past
(Richard Rushing)
Warnings to the churches
(J.C. Ryle)
When Christians Suffer
(Thomas Case)
Stay Connected
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/banneroftruth/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TheBannerofTruth
THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST originated in 1957 in London. The founders believed that much of the best literature of
historic Christianity had been allowed to fall into oblivion and that, under God, its recovery could well lead not only to a
strengthening of the church today but to true revival.
Inter-denominational in vision, this publishing work is now international, and our lists include works by contemporary
authors together with classics from the past. As well as English language books, the Banner of Truth also publishes books
in Spanish and Chinese, and many of our titles have been translated into other languages.
We publish a monthly magazine, The Banner of Truth, and organize a number of conferences for ministers and young
people. Further information about these and all of our publications can be found on our website or by contacting our
offices at the addresses below:
Website: http://banneroftruth.org
UK & Rest of the World
The Banner of Truth
The Grey House, 3 Murrayfield Road,
Edinburgh, EH12 6EL, UK
E-MAIL: info@banneroftruth.co.uk
TEL: +44(0)131-337-7310
FAX: +44(0)131-346-7484
USA & Canada
The Banner of Truth
PO Box 621, Carlisle,
Pennsylvania 17013, USA
E-MAIL: info@banneroftruth.org
TEL: 717-249-5747
FAX: 717-249-0604
Australia
The Banner of Truth
PO Box 29, Sylvania Southgate
NSW 2224, Australia