Page:The Book of Family Worship.pdf/218

 206 TWENTY-RIGHTH WEEK.

inestimable benefit to mankind, may ba prospered in their labours; and. O keep them stedfast in the way, that the seed sown may not be caught away from them by the enemy of sonia.

Help ua to labour for the true riches, and suffer net our souls to be misled by a thirst for the unrighteous mammon, or to be entangled in the snares by which it is accumulated. But grant unto ws rather au earnest desire to buy wine and milk—that sincere milk of Thy Word, that wine that maketh glat the heart of man, that oil which makes his face to shine, that bread which strengthencth man's heart.

For the blessings Thou hast showered down upon as. O Lord, make ua grateful. To the commandments Thon hast seen fit to enjoin upon us. O make us obedient, by the influences of that Spirit by which Thou waitest to guide us, © send Thy grace that we with willingneas may follow; and may @ conviction of Thy omnipresence prevent our weakness from sinking under the trials necessary for our purification. May Thy words be ever unto us 86 assurances of Thy presence: " Behold I am with thee, and will bless thee in all things whithersvever thou goest. I will not leave thee until I have done that of which I have spoken to thes. Fear not, for I am with thee. Iam thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.' Amen.

Our Father, ete.

ORD, we confess that we are too frequently envious, and jealous of what others do, lest they should do more than ourselves, or should do what we intend to do, before our purpose is matured. Thus do we fret ourselves to do evil, and thus do we become associated with the workers of iniquity, and are as those that go down into the pit.

But O, how great, how marvellous is that wisdom, which out of evil still educes good, which causes the wrath of man to praise God, while the remainder of wrath is mercifully restrained. Thy providence interweaves itself with all our purposes, and where onr own waywardness would bring sin and death, Thy providence, by a way we know not, convinces us of sin, withdraws us from self-dependence, shows us that men of low degree are vanity, and "men of high degree are a lie; and, laid in the balance, are altogether lighter than vanity."

Adored be Thy name, O Lord, for these Thy fatherly interferences which bring us to a more correct knowledge of ourselves. To Thee belongeth merey, for Thou renderest to every man according to his work.

Lord, be with Thy people this day, and enable them to behold Thy providential hand in the disposal of their affairs. Above all things, O Lord, assist us to subdue our selfishness, and suffer us not to labour under mistaken notions of our own righteousness. May we in all things bend our wills to Thy providence, and from our hearts be able to say, "Not our will, but Thine be done." Amen.

Our Father, etc.