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 the present moment, and we feel assured that Thou wilt be our guide even unto death.

Merciful God and Saviour, when our spirits are bowed down with care, and trouble presses heavily upon us, let us feel the consolation of Thy presence, and may confidence in Thee raise us above the cares and anxieties of this our natural state. Help us to comprehend the truth, that Thou regardest chiefly our eternal happiness, and eternal things must be so gained that those who pass to their enjoyment must be prepared for them. It was for this that Thou didst bow the heavens and come down; and it is for this that all things transient and temporal must give way.

Our Father, &c.

LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, our Redeemer and Saviour, Thou hast exhorted us in Thy Word to set our affections on things above; help us to be obedient to this Divine injunction. When the world presses heavily upon us; when that in which we delighted and which appeared prosperous is suddenly withdrawn, and assumes a dark and threatening aspect; when those whose friendship we thought sure and permanent become cold, avert the eye, and with our change of fortune, change their feelings of regard, and even traduce, or appear to do so, the character they at one time so much admired; when all worldly supports are removed, and the spirit in bitterness is about to give place to despair, then, Lord, in the midst of our darkness, let Thy cheering light find its way to our