things well; and let your chief concern be, to glorify God, whether in sickness or in health, in youth or in riper years, in life and in death, in time and in eternity. PRAYER, For the Pious. O thou infinitely wise and gracious God, we rejoice that we can approach near to thy mercy seat at this time. Thou art our Father, and dost permit us to address thee with the confidence of children. We acknowledge with deep humility before thee, the sin of our nature. We were born in sin, and brought forth in iniquity; and in the earliest period of our existence, we discovered the effects of a depraved nature. We have gone astray from the womb, speaking lies. What waywardness of temper! What inclinations to sin! What disobedience to thy commands! What neglect of divine things, marked our childhood and youth. Our dispositions and conduct proved, that even in the youngest heart, there is enmity against thee, and that thy renewing grace is necessary. O may we feel deeply humbled, and truly penitent for these things. Oh, how dost thou call us to see the effects of sin, upon the body as well as the soul! We next morning, when I thanked God for making me better, and now I am quite well, and so will Ann, if she pray to God." see these effects, in the sickness and death of the young. The infant, the child, the youth, are cut off, as well as the more advanced and the aged. Thou hast laid thine hand upon the youth before thee. Thou hast brought him very early to taste the cup of affliction. Thou are permitting sickness and disease to waste the outward frame, by which a cloud is cast over his prospect in this world. Oh be very gracious to him in this season of youthful calamity. May his chief thoughts be occupied about spiritual things. Withdraw him completely from the world, and every thing of an earthly nature. Thou hast, we trust, begun a good work in him: carry it on, and lead him to larger experience of thy love. May the blessed Saviour be very near unto him, making all his bed in his sickness. May that God whom he has chosen as the guide of his youth, be now the support of his heart. May an interest in Jesus continue to afford him true happiness, in the midst of his bodily weakness. O let his faith be strong, his love warm, his hopes bright, and his joy full. May the Scriptures which he has known from a child, and which by faith in Christ, have made him wise unto salvation, be now his comfort, and as by taking heed to thy word in health, he cleansed his way, by resting upon it in sickness, may he obtain that peace which passeth all understanding. Resign him to thy will, if to live, may it be only for Christ, if to die, may it be his gain. Bless the means employed for his restoration, that he may regain his wonted health and vigour. May this affliction be sanctified to his beloved parents and brothers and sisters, and may they be resigned to this affliction, and supported under it. Pardon, we beseech thee, all the sins of our childhood, youth, or riper years, for the sake of the dear Redeemer. Amen. For the Thoughtless. O Lord God, regard us while prostrate around this sick bed. We thank thee that we are allowed to pray for persons of all ages and characters. We lift up our hearts to thee, on behalf of the afflicted youth before thee. Teach him by thy Spirit, that though young, he is a sinner against thee. Place before him all the sins of his childhood and youth, that he may be convinced that he needs pardon for the guilt, and cleansing from the impurity of them. O thou friend of the young, thou who hast said, I love them that love me, and those who seek me early shall find me; with an eye of tender compassion, regard him, and give him a share in thy affection, and an interest in the blessings of thy salvation. Enable him even now, to give both body and soul to thee. We know that thou dost not despise such a sacrifice, for thou hast said, Give me thine heart. O Lord, we pray thee to remove every cloud of ignorance, every feeling of enmity, every symptom of indifference, or dislike to religion; and may he, ere he leaves this world, seek and enjoy that acquaintance with Jesus, which will bear him up in the midst of death, should he be called early to depart this life. If thou shouldst recover him from this affliction, which we pray that thou wouldst do, if it be thy heavenly will, may he find the advantage of being called early to suffer, and be found walking in wisdom's ways, which are ways of pleasantness, and her paths which are paths of peace. O may he not, as hitherto, walk in the vanity of the mind, in youthful folly and forgetfulness of thee, and of divine things, but in newness of life, and devotedness to thy service. May this affliction be blest to all his relatives and friends, and may they all be found at last at thy right hand. Hear us in these petitions, and when thou hearest, forgive all our sins for his sake who died for us. Amen. "How are my blooming years disgrac'd How is my sprightliness defac'd, Jesus with whom compassions dwell, Speak Lord, and thou shalt have the praise, In mercy set me free, So shall the remnant of my days, Be spent alone to thee. But if thou dost not so design, CHAPTER XVII. SCRIPTURE PORTION. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage, Gen. xlvii. 8, 9. And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan. Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old. And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem. And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with thee |