compensation for any present pain or loss. May the memory of thee and of thy word cheer and animate us, save us from impatience and presumption, from unkind words and wrong thoughts, and from every deed we should have occasion to regret as a disobedience of thy holy laws.

Enable us, we pray thee, to discharge faithfully the duties of our different spheres and positions, social, domestic and individual, remembering that each must give account of himself to thee. May those whom we love be sharers with us in every needed aid and blessing of thy providence and grace. May thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and unto thee ascend from all hearts and lives everlasting praise, in the faith and love of Jesus Christ thy Son. Amen.

II.

The Sure Refuge.

In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.

Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.

God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth to God.

Also to thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy for thou renderest to every man according to his work.

OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, reverently and gratefully we acknowledge thy goodness and care during another night. In the defenceless hours of sleep thou hast preserved us. And now that thou hast waked us to the light of this new day refreshed and strengthened, we would pour out our hearts before thee, and acknowledge thee to be our salvation, our glory, the rock of our strength and our refuge. We thank thee for all the good gifts of thy love so constantly bestowed upon us. They are new every morning, and fresh every evening. May they inspire us with an abiding gratitude, that shall be shown by the homage of the heart and life to truth and good

ness.

Help us to receive this new day as a fresh gift of thy love, opening new opportunities for thy service, and for the discipline of our souls. Prepare our hearts for a proper use of each hour as it comes. Fill our souls with the spirit of thy Son, that we may find our meat and drink in doing thy will. In all the social and domestic relations of life may the gentle and loving temper of our Master rule in our hearts. May the sweet ties of family and kindred be sanctified by the spirit and faith of the Gospel. May we love one another with pure hearts fervently;

forbearing one another, forgiving one another, assisting one another in overcoming all evil, and in exercising always a Christian spirit.

In our intercourse with the world may we show that we have been with Jesus, and learned of him. May we be upright in our dealings; scrupulously honest in all our transactions; truthful in our words; generous and charitable in our deeds.

to

Inspire us with a cheerful trust in thy providence. Quicken our benevolent affections. Give us a spirit to sympathize with the troubled; to help the needy; to restore the wanderer; to strengthen the weak; encourage the desponding; and to do good as we have opportunity towards all men. O, may we keep our hearts open to the teaching of thy Spirit, that we may steadily oppose all that is sinful and wrong, and labor on in faith and prayer for the right, the pure, and the good. Never may we trust in oppression, or build our hope upon the uncertain riches of the world. May we feel that life is given us for a high and sacred purpose, and be enabled through thy grace so to use it that each day, as it brings us nearer to the spirit world, will bring us nearer to thee in the spirit and temper of our minds.

Thus may the discipline of this day work together with all good influences for the regeneration of our souls, and fit us for that time when thou shalt render to every man according to his work. We ask it, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

III.

Thanks and Supplication.

and my

deliverer;

I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Hearken to the voice of my cry, my King, and my God! for to thee will I pray.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer to thee, and will look up.

For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with thee.

The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

OUR FATHER who art in heaven.

The Father of

light, the Giver of every good and perfect gift, on whom we are dependent for life and health, and for all the means of prolonging and enjoying them. We thank thee for thy kind and protecting care of us during the silent and defenceless hours of the last night; that we have lain ourselves down and have slept; that we have been preserved from every danger, and from every alarm, and been brought to see the light, to partake of the blessings, and to perform the duties, of another day. It is because thou, Lord, hast sustained us. It is because thy compassions fail not. They are new every morning; they are fresh every evening, and every moment of our lives; and

great is thy faithfulness. In the morning we would direct our prayer to thee. We will love thee, O Lord, our rock, our deliverer, our strength, in whom we will trust.

We thank thee for the bounty of a common providence, which supplies our daily returning wants; for the privilege of consulting the oracles of truth, that we may there learn thy will and our duty, the things which thou requirest of us, and the blessedness thou hast reserved for the pure in heart, the faithful and obedient, in the family above. We thank thee that we are once more permitted to gather round the family altar, and to unite in offering thee our morning sacrifice of prayer and praise.

Behold us in tender compassion. Pity our frailties, and forgive all our sins. With the light of the morning wilt thou lift upon us the light of thy countenance. With the beams of the natural sun may the Sun of righteousness arise upon our souls, with healing in his wings. Wilt thou, who didst command the light to shine out of darkness, shine in our hearts, and give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. May we place ourselves at his feet, and learn of him who was meek and lowly in heart. May the same mind be in us which was also in him. And may his spirit, taking full possession of our hearts, mould us to a nearer resemblance of his moral perfections, a closer imitation of his pure and perfect example, until Christ