Page:The Book of Family Worship.pdf/29



LORD Jesus Christ, the Protector of all Thy creatures, we humbly approach Thee this morning. We would praise Thy name with our whole hearts; we would extol Thee our God and King. Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory. Who shall set forth all Thy praise? The night is Thine; the day also is Thine. With humble aud grateful thanks, we desire to acknowledge Thine ever present goodness; help us, O Lord, that we may be preserved under the influence of a godly spirit, living in Thy love and fear.

O Lord, we desire to express a becoming sense of humility for our iniquities. O grant us Thine assistance to turn from them. Aid us, O Lord, in the important work of repentance; for without Thee we can do nothing.

As we look around us and contemplate the manifold duties in which men are engaged, may we perform our allotted portion with cheerfulness and zeal: "not slothful in business, bué fervent in spirit."

Keep us, O Lord, we bescech Thee, from a mere worldly spirit, and while we labour to provide things honest in the sight of all men, and eat from our labour of the bread that perisheth, O may we with ardour labour for our portion of the bread which endureth unto everlasting life. Help us, O Lord, we beseech Thee.

O Lord, let Thy light go forth with power, and may the minds of the people be prepared to reveive it. Bless all the families of the earth, and teach them to love each other, even as Thou hast loved them. Never may we invidiously compare our righteousness with that of others: or pharisaically assume to ourselves any kind of goodness. May we be severe to our own failings but lenient to those of others. O teach us to "do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Thee." Amen.

Our Father, etc.

LORD Almighty, our beneficent Father, Protector, and Friend, another day of labour has been passed, and by it we have been brought nearer to the kingdom of eternity. Awful, yet if we have been firm in our duty, most cheering thought! The anxiety of bodily life ought to be lessened and the anticipation of the perfect life of the soul, as we have been brought nearer to its commencement, ought to fill us with hope and joy. But O how awful to reflect upon, if our duties have been neglected; and, alas! can we say they have been faithfully performed? What surrender of our selfishness has distinguished us this day? For whose good have we relinquished any natural gratification? Have we practised self denial, or have we in any degree sacrificed a portion of our own comforts, that the pressing wants of others might receive some relief? Search us, O God, and try our hearts, and see if there be any token of amendment in us; and O send forth the righteous dispensations of Thy providence, that we may be brought to see the necessity of repentance and true holiness.

Lord, teach us ever to know and acknowledge the unity of Thy glory! In goodness, in wisdom, in power, in providence, in redemption, in