Page:The Book of Family Worship.pdf/379

 hast graciously unfolded before us! We thank Thee, too, for the book of nature: in the works of Thy hands we are enabled to behold a faint transcript of Thy heavenly kingdom, and even of Thine eternal power and Godhead. O how boundless is Thy wisdom; how infinite is Thy goodness! Thou hast created man in Thy image, and hast endowed him with a capacity for increasing in knowledge to all eternity; and as he humbly acknowledges that all his ability is derived from Thee, so is he capable of penetrating into the wonders of Thy created universe and of beholding Thy goodness, wisdom, and power in every object that surrounds him. Lord, we glorify Thee for the ability with which Thou hast endowed us, and we pray Thee to assist us in making a proper use of it. In beholding the wonders of Thy operative power in nature, O help us to contemplate the uses they are designed to impart to the spirit, remembering at all times that it is the spirit which quickeneth. Amen.

Our Father, etc.

HE day is spent, the evening has come upon us, aud we return from our daily labours. O Lord Jesus Christ, we pray Thee assist us to give up this life of sensuality and self-conceit: and that we may become spiritually minded, assist us to remove our every evil and to perform the work of true penitence. May uncharitableness and animosity be removed, and may we, from Thy example, "love our enemies, bless them who curse us, do good to them who hate us, and pray for them who despitefully use us and persecute us." To become meek and lowly as Thou wert, may we set Thee continually before us; and renouncing pride and ambition, may we take Thy yoke upon us, and find rest to our souls. To do justly and to attain to the perfection of truth, may we from henceforth not only act with scrupulous fidelity in all our dealings, but restore whatever in time past we may have unjustly appropriated, remembering that he who is faithful in that which is great is also faithful in that which is least. Finally, O Lord, may we be deeply impressed with the sanctity and holiness of Thy Word, and in seeking to become spiritually minded, may we approach Thy Word of truth with that degree of reverence which shows a due sense of the purity of that Being whose love is the life and soul of it: so shall it operate upon our wills and understandings with spirit and power, and be to us as the light which shall shine more and more brilliant unto the perfection of light in heaven. Amen.

Our Father, etc.

LORD, we beseech Thee, amid the vicissitudes to which we are exposed, keep us, as well as our fellow-creatures, in the uninterrupted possession of tranquility.

Riches are often a burthen to their possessor, he knows not how to use them so as to procure the much-desired rest. Even those who acknowledge their all of good to some from Thee, and desire to bestow that good in Thy service, even these labour and are weary because they fear they may not dispense Thy blessings as they ought. There is, indeed, O Lord, in this world nothing to give rest or to allay anxiety; and