EVENING PRAYERS. I. The Sure Defence. The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee. Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions. Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed: he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. ETERNAL GOD, Father of the family on earth and in heaven, we bless thee for our homes, and for the countless mercies which surround us now as we bring our evening offering to thine altar. Thou dost set the solitary in families, and it is thy love that inspires every true human affection. Thou hast ordained all the precious relations of the household. Thou hast established the ties of husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, and these ties are truly blessed when consecrated by thy grace. Enable us, O Lord, to bring all our thoughts, affections and purposes, to thee, and to order our whole plan of life within the courts of thy kingdom. Teach us to look to thee for light and strength in the least and the greatest of our duties, that the whole round of our existence may be ruled by thy truth, and that our whole being may centre in thy love. May we learn to rule our children by ruling our own tempers through a divine faith, and thus bring the strength of heavenly grace to work upon their wayward impulses. Open thou within our household the springs of spiritual life, and may we all, both young and old, day by day, refresh ourselves by the living water. In our home may we rejoice to give the cheerfulness and strength of our affections to the service of religion, and deem no day so dark as that which shuts out the light of God from our souls, or closes our minds to the love unspeakable that dwells in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Help us, O God, to remember wisely the former times; to gather cheerful wisdom from the remembrance of the by-gone years; to cherish with tender faith and affection the memory of departed kindred and |