MORNING PRAYERS.

I.

God our Keeper.

I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will preserve thee from all evil: he will preserve thy soul.

The Lord will preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even forever.

O, THOU, who compasseth our path and our lying down, and art acquainted with all our ways, with the light of another morning we would lift our hearts to thee, in grateful acknowledgment of that goodness

which is Israel's keeper, and which never slumbers nor sleeps. We know that we are not worthy even to take thy name upon our lips. But thy tender mercies are over all thy works; and to the hills from whence cometh our help we would lift up our eyes.

Wilt thou accept our thanks, our heavenly Father, for thy protecting care of us the past night, and for the countless mercies of which this new day reminds us; and make us more grateful, more sensible of our dependence upon thee for the light and support of our lives. May no vain self-confidence cause us to imagine that we do not need the counsels thou hast given to direct us, or that we can safely encounter life's trials and temptations without that strength from above which thou hast graciously promised to all who seek it.

Thou art our keeper, and thou alone canst preserve our going out and our coming in. May we never doubt thy readiness to hear, to forgive, and to guide us. May no dark cloud hide thy fatherly goodness from our hearts, and no present happiness lead away our thoughts from thee, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift. May our faith in thee be strengthened by every new trial. May every day give practical evidence of our desire to please thee. May no power of evil prevail over our good purposes. May the path of duty be made plain to us. And in the thought of thy approval may we find satisfactory