SATURDAY EVENING.

O THOU, who art the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only wise God, wilt thou hear us with favour when we pray, and grant us thine assistance and blessing. O Lord, open thou our lips, and our mouths shall show forth thy praise. Thou art the first, and thou the last, the ever living and true God. At the close of another day and another week, we are assembled in the scene of our domestic blessings to give thanks to thee and to glorify thy name. We are thy creatures, and we would come to acknowledge our entire and absolute dependence on thee; we are thy children, and we would look to our Father in heaven with reverence and love; we are cherished and supported by thy bounty, and we desire that our hearts may rise in the offering of gratitude to thee; we are frail, and ignorant, and weak, and we would pray for thy guidance, assistance, and support; we are sinners, and we would implore the mercy of the God of grace. Enable us,

O God, to come before thee with a deep and impressive faith in thy being and providence, with joy in thy wise and righteous government, with gratitude for thine unnumbered mercies,

with the spirit of acquiescence in thine appointments and of submission to thine authority. By all around us and all within us, we are taught that thou art good, and that thy tender mercies are over thy works. If sometimes the potion of life is bitterness and sorrow, we bless thee for the assurance we have, that afflictions are messengers sent for wise and good purposes; and that like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him; for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. From thy bounteous hand, O God, all our blessings descend, and every day we experience thy goodness in our social enjoyments, in the health of our bodies and the peace of our minds, in our means of improvement and happiness. Through Jesus Christ thy grace has been continually proffered to us, and the light of divine truth has been shining upon us. We would particularly remember with gratitude the mercies which we have received during the past day and the past week. In the midst of our various cares and pursuits, thou hast been pleased to protect and bless the members of this family; and, notwithstanding our follies and sins, our day of grace is yet prolonged, and we are spared, while so many have gone down to darkness and dust.

O God, may each heart among us be an altar to thy praise. Suffer us not to go on from day to day, and from week to week, supported by thy power and blessed by thy bounty, and yet unmindful of the hand which upholds us and makes us happy. Give us grace to be grateful, as we ought, for that best gift of thy goodness, the gift of thy Son, our blessed Saviour. Glory be to God in the highest for him, who came to seek and to save that which was lost, to proclaim peace and mercy to man, to bring back thine erring children to thee, their Father, and to introduce us to an inheritance of hopes incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. O thou, whose mercy is not wearied by our ingratitude, we pray that our hearts may be touched and softened by a sense of our own unworthiness. What are we, O our Father, that thy blessings, temporal and spiritual, should be thus lavished upon us? We confess that we have wandered from thee, and wilt thou restore us; that we are polluted, and wilt thou purify us; that we are guilty, and wilt thou pardon us. Especially we pray, that thou wouldst forgive us for the errors, and follies, and sins, of which we may have been guilty during the past day; and enable us, for the future, to have better motives and better pur

poses, more purity and earnestness in good things, more love and devotion to thee. O thou, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike, and who art the Protector of all that put their trust in thee; before we retire to repose this night, we would raise our hearts to thee, and seek thy blessing. We beseech thee to have each member of this family in thine holy keeping, and shelter us under the wing of thy providence.. May we rise in the morning with hearts prepared for the duties and instructions of the sabbath; may our minds be filled with tranquil, devout, and solemn thoughts and remembrances; and may the things which belong to our everlasting peace, possess our souls. We offer our prayer in the name of him, who hath loved us and given himself for us, through whom be rendered unto thee, the most high God, unceasing praises. Amen.

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OCCASIONAL PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS.

PRAYERS.

For a Sick Person.

BE merciful, O Lord! in a particular manner to this family, into which thou hast permitted sickness to enter. Graciously support thy servant under thine afflicting hand. If it seem good in thy sight, bless the means which are using for his* restoration and usefulness. May the fruit of affliction be the taking away of sin. Endue him with patience to possess his soul, and himself to thine all-wise disposal.

to resign And may

every disorder we feel in ourselves or observe in others, make us more sensible of the frailty of our nature; and engage us to apply our hearts, with greater diligence, to that wisdom which shall prepare us for death and eternity.

* The words, his, him, he, &c. printed in Italics, may be changed into her, she, &c. as the occasion may require.