thy providence; and the calls of the gospel of peace. We have made light of those things which angels desire to look into: we have neglected thy great salvation; and we deserve that thy wrath should come upon us, as the children of disobedience.

But we are in the land of the living, and under a dispensation of hope. We flee for refuge to that dear Saviour, who said, deliver him from going down into the pit, I have found a ransom; and who himself bore our sin in his own body on the tree. O that we may be found in Him; and know, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. May we not only be justified by his blood, and saved from wrath through Him; but may we derive from Him an influence, that shall subdue our iniquities, and change us into his own image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Deliver us, we pray Thee, from the views and dispositions, of men of the world, who have their portion in this life. May we never look for that on earth, which can only be found in heaven. Born from above, and bound for glory, may we feel the heart of a stranger, and pass the time of our sojourning here in fear. Reminded-and, O, how often are we reminded?—that here we have no continuing city, may we seek one to come and in all the changing scenes of time, know in ourselves, that in heaven, we have a better and an enduring substance.

In our journeyings through a vale of tears, cast us not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from us. Be Thou always within sight, or within call for how often shall we have to address Thee? To thy wisdom we must repair for direction, or we shall every moment go astray. Thy power is our only safety.

Thou that savest by thy right hand, them that put

their trust in Thee, from those that rise up against them, keep us as the apple of the eye, and hide us under the shadow of thy wing. Be Thou our strength in weakness; and our victory in conflict. We dare not say, we never will deny Thee-but O grant that we never may. Establish our hearts with grace, and deliver our feet from falling; and may we be sincere and without offence, until the day of Christ.

These are great blessings for us to ask-but we are undone for ever without them-and Thou hast encouraged us to hope. We plead thy command and thy promise-Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shali find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. No suppliant, however unworthy, or guilty, was ever rejected, or insulted at thy footstool: and we come in the name of Him who made intercession for the transgressions. Him, Thou hearest always-and to Him, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be praises for ever and ever. Amen.

000-000

SATURDAY MORNING.

O GOD, Thou art great, and greatly to be feared. And Thou art, also, merciful and gracious; long-suffering and abundant in goodness and in truth. May we so feel our sinfulness, as to be humbled in the dust before Thee, and filled with self-condemnation and self-despair; but let us not shrink back from thy presence, and be afraid to place our faith and hope in God. Help us to remember, that if we have no claim, on the footing of desert, we can plead thy promise, and invitation; and that if the blessings we want are infinitely great, they

are dispensed as gifts where freeness delights in the unworthiness of the receiver.

We, therefore, would neither deny, nor palliate our guilt. We know there is evil enough in one sin to plunge us into perdition; but our offences are more in number than the sand; and they have been attended with every aggravation, derivable from light and love, means and mercies. Thou hast called, and we have refused; Thou hast stretched out thy hand and we have not regarded. How often hast Thou wooed and awed, blessed and chastised us—and yet we refused to return. O Lord, pardon our iniquity for it is great. Let the free gift be of many offences unto justification of life; and where sin has abounded, grace may much more abound.

And as we cannot serve or enjoy Thee, unless our nature be changed, as well as our state, O save us by the washing of regeneration, and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Deliver us from the dominion, as well as the curse of sin; and from the love of it, as well as the dominion. May we reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. May we view holiness as the beauty and the dignity of the soul; and long after greater degrees of conformity to the will and the image of God. May our hope purify us and our religious comforts stimulate, as well as relieve. May we never slumber, and lose our roll; never sleep, and like Saul be robbed of our spear and our cruse. May we watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation. When we grow indolent and careless, awaken us by lively apprehensions of thy presence, and of the eternal world, on the borders of which we perpetually move; may we feel the infinite importance of improving the few transient periods, intervening between us and death; may we daily and hourly answer some of the grand purposes of life and religion. May

every place and every company be the better for us. May we diffuse knowledge and happiness by our conversation, example, and influence; and like our Lord and Saviour go about doing good.

Whatever advantages we possess, may we never forget, that this is not our rest. May we arise and depart hence, not by quitting our stations, or undervaluing the duties attached to them, but by rising above the world, as our portion, setting our affections on things above, and having our conversation in heaven. Expecting a succession of encounters in passing through an enemy's land, may we take to us the whole armour of God: and looking for thorns and briars in our marchings through a wilderness, may our feet be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Fit us for every changing scene; and in all the events that would alarm or perplex us, may our minds be stayed upon God, and our thoughts be established. May we remember that trials from thy hand are blessings in disguise, and that when they come to be unveiled, and we can view them in their designs and effects, they will draw forth our gratitude and praise. Till we can walk by sight, enable us to walk by faith; and may nothing weaken our persuasion, that all thy ways are mercy and truth to thy people; and that all things work together for good to them that love Thee.

We would not forget those that are in affliction-Do not Thou, O God, forget them. Whatever be their losses or distress, help them to say, Yet the Lord thinking upon me and may they know, that thy thoughts towards them are thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to bring them to an expected end, though it may be by a painful passage. Comfort those who are on beds of languishing. Enter the house of mourning. Be the father of the fatherless, and the husband of the widow, and the friend

and helper of the poor and needy-and have mercy up

on all men.

Our Father, &c.

·000-000·

SATURDAY EVENING.

O GOD-Thou art glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, continually doing wonders. And it is not one of the least of thy wonderful works, that we are yet on this side an awful eternity, and not reaping the due reward of our deeds. We look on each other this evening with astonishment, and exclaim, It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Our whole life has been a scene of provocation against thy divine majesty and if we, with all our ignorance and self-love, can see so much depravity in ourselves, what must have presented itself to thy view-O Thou, who knowest all things, in whose sight the very heavens are not clean, and who seest more pollution, even in our duties, than we ever found in our sins! There is no health is us. We have no works or

and if ever we are sav

worthiness to excite thy regard; ed, it must be according to thy own purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began.

We come to Thee in the dear name of Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us; who magnified the law and made it honorable; who put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself; and now ever liveth to make intercession for us. This foundation, Thou thyself hast laid in Zion, and thy word assures us, that whosoever believeth on Him, shall not be confounded. We hope our dependence upon Him is not a vain reliance, because we love his service as well as his sacrifice, and long to wear his image, as well as to be justified by his blood. We hope