Page:Johnsonian Miscellanies I.djvu/26

 Prayers and Meditations.

��PRAYER ON NEWYEAR'S DAY.

Jan. i, 174$.

Almighty and everlasting God, in whose hands are life and death, by whose will all things were created, and by whose providence they are sustained, I return thee thanks that Thou hast given me life, and that thou hast continued it to this time, that thou hast hitherto forborn to snatch me away in the midst of Sin and Folly, and hast permitted me still to enjoy the means of Grace, and vouchsafed to call me yet again to Repentance. Grant, O merciful Lord, that thy Call may not be vain, that my Life may not be continued to encrease my Guilt, and that thy gracious Forbearance may not harden my heart in wickedness. Let me remember, O my God, that as Days and Years pass over me, I approach nearer to the Grave, where there is no repen tance 1, and grant, that by the assistance of thy Holy Spirit, I may so pass through this Life, that I may obtain Life ever lasting, for the Sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

��0.

Jan. i, i7 4 |.

Almighty and most merciful Father, who hast not yet suffered me to fall into the Grave, grant that I may so remember my past Life, as to repent of the days and years which I have spent in forgetful ness of thy mercy, and neglect of my own Salvation, and so use the time which thou shalt yet allow me, as that I may become every day more diligent in the duties which in thy Providence shall be assigned me, and that when at last I shall be called to judgement I may be received as a good and faithful servant into everlasting happiness, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

1 Nevertheless he later on thought benefit from the prayers of the living, it possible, and perhaps even prob- Post, pp. 14, 15. able, that the dead might receive

��Almighty

�� �