SATURDAY EVENING.

O GOD, Thou hast made and Thou upholdest all things

by the word of thy power. Darkness is thy pavilion.

Thou walkest upon the wings of the wind. All nations before Thee are as nothing One generation passeth away and another cometh; and we are hastening back to the dust whence we were taken. The heavens we behold will vanish away like the cloud that covers them, and the earth we tread will dissolve like a morning dream; but Thou, incapable of change, independent of the vicissitudes of time, and the perishing of worlds, art from everlasting to everlasting, God over all, blessed for evermore.

Infinitely great and glorious as Thou art, we are thy offspring and thy care. Thy hands have made us and fashioned us. Thou hast watched over us with more than parental, more than maternal tenderness. Thou hast holden our souls in life, and not suffered our feet to be moved. Thy divine power has given us all things, not only necessary for life, but godliness. Bless the Lord, O our soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all our iniquities, who healeth all our diseases; who redeemeth our lives from destruction, who crowneth us with loving-kindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth our mouth with good things, so that our youth is renewed like the eagle's.

We raise this evening a fresh memorial, and inscribe it to the God of our salvation. Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. We have passed not only through another day, but through another week. The sun has not smitten us by day nor the moon by night. We have been preserved in our going out and coming in. But thine has been the vigilance that turned aside the evils which threatened us Thine have been the supplies that have nourished us

Thine the Thine have

Thine the comforts that have indulged us. relations and friends that have delighted us. been the means of grace which have edified us; and thine the book which amidst all our enjoyments has told us that this is not our rest; and that in all our successes, one thing is yet needful.

Nothing can equal the number of thy mercies, but our imperfections and sins. These, O God, we would not conceal nor palliate, but confess them with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

In what a condition would our closet-reviews leave us this evening, were it not for the assurance that there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared, and with Thee plenteous redemption. Yet while we hope for pardon through the blood of the cross, we pray to be clothed with humility, to be quickened in thy way, and to be more devoted to the things that belong to our everlast

ing peace.

How soon has the week rolled away! Its days have fled like a dream, a vapour, a shadow. So will all our days flee; so will they all appear when the end arrives. O help us to keep that end in remembrance, and endeavour to view things now as they will appear from the borders of the grave. May we know how frail we are, that we may be cured of the folly of delay and indecision; and so number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

May we call the approaching sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honourable; and may we honour Thee in not doing our own ways, nor finding our own pleasures, nor speaking our own words. May the private moments of the day be sacred, and the social ir nocent and edifying. And may we keep our foot when we go to the house of God, and offer not the sacrifice of fools Let us not go as

thy people go, and sit as thy people sit, and hear thy words, but do them not.

Preserve us from trifling with the things of the soul and eternity, or trusting in those privileges which unimproved will only augment our guilt and our misery.

Thy people, the Jews, were distinguished by thy favours above all the families of the earth; but wrath came upon them to the uttermost. The churches of Asia provoked Thee to remove the candlestick out of its place, and they were left in darkness. We have awful examples still nearer. How many who once heard and professed the gospel, have been turned by the abuse of it into apostate. and infidels, blasphemers and persecutors-tenfold more the children of hell than before; while numbers who yet maintain the form of godliness, are too hardened to feel the power of it.

While therefore we go to thy house in the multitude of thy mercies, may we in thy FEAR worship towards thy holy temple; for Thou art greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints. O let us not perish under means designed to save us— -O let not the savor of life unto life prove to us only the savor of death unto death.

Make the place of thy feet glorious. Bring us to thy holy mountain, and if we are not made joyful in thy house of prayer for we would not dictate to thy goodnessconvince us, alarm us, humble us, banish the spirit of the world from our hearts, and fill us with all the fulness of God. So we thy people and the sheep of thy pasture will give Thee thanks for ever; we will show forth thy praise throughout all generations. Amen.

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O GOD, we desire with all reverence and humility to approach Thee as a Being infinitely great and glorious. Thou art the perfection of all excellency, the fountain of all life, and the source of all blessedness. How immense is the family of creatures produced by thy word, and depending on thy care. Millions are visible; and myriads of myriads in the air, the earth, and the sea, are invisible; and all these have their wants and their appetites, and are capable of receiving relief and pleasure. And the eyes of ALL wait upon Thee, and Thou givest them their meat in due season; Thou openest thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

But THEY never forfeited the care of their Creator, nor swerved from the end of their being; while we have revolted from Thee; we have joined in alliance with thy foes, and deserve, as children of disobedience, that the wrath of God should come upon us. And yet such is the excellency of thy loving kindness, O Lord, that the CHILDREN OF MEN, unworthy and guilty as they are, are allowed to come and put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

We bless Thee for the scriptures of truth which make known thy designs concerning us, and assure us that they are thoughts of peace and not of evil. word as one that findeth great spoil.

We rejoice in thy We love to peruse

its doctrines, promises, and invitations; to contemplate the great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh; and to dwell on the history and experience of those who have obtained mercy. For all who have ever been saved, have been saved by thy grace, and have been thy workmanship. And Thou art the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; thy hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor thine ear heavy that it cannot hear.

Bow down thine ear and hearken to the voice of our supplication: employ thy hand for our deliverance and relief. We are already the creatures of thy power, O make us the subjects of thy grace. We are already the charge of thy providence, O bless us with all spiritual blessingsblessings for our souls and for eternity. Though by nature afar off, may we be made nigh by the blood of Christ; no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. Bless us, we pray Thee, with a present salvation-that being justified by faith, we may have peace with God; that the love and power of sin may be subdued in our hearts; that we may be dead to the world, alive to the glory of God, and concerned to serve our generation according to thy will.

may our

May we never be blots or mere blanks in life. May we never cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of: liberty never prove an occasion to the flesh, but by love may we serve one another. May every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. May we attend not only to what is essential in our religious character, but what is ornamental. May we pursue whatsoever things are lovely and of good report, and render our profession of the gospe! not only impressive but amiable and inviting. May we hold forth the word of life with our tempers as well as our tongues, with our lives as well as our lips, and thus be continually saying to those we meet, We are journeying towards a place of which the Lord said, I will give it you