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FIFTH SERIES.

SUNDAY MORNING.

O LORD, thou art over all, and art rich in mercy unto all that call upon thee. On this, the morning of thy day, we desire to separate ourselves for thy service. Look favourably upon us, we beseech thee; let thy Holy Spirit help our infirmities; and let our mouths be filled with thy praise and with thine honour all the day.

Enable us, O Lord, to detach our minds from the objects that usually engage them. May the world and its concerns cease this day to interest or affect us. May we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; and by faith hold fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

We bless thee, gracious God, for the institution of

the christian Sabbath. We acknowledge our sinful proneness to confine our views to this present world, and our foolish tendency to adopt as a portion the objects and enjoyments, which disappoint our expectations, and which perish in the using. We thank thee that in mercy, thou hast interposed a check to the worldly tenor of our desires and pursuits. We thank thee that, by setting apart a day specially for thy service, thou hast called off our thoughts from a scene in which otherwise we might have been content to live without thee, and indifferent to the holy and elevated ends for which we were formed. Blessed be God that on this day we are called to lift ourselves from the dust, and to assert the privileges of our immortal nature. We rejoice that space and leisure are afforded us for breathing the air of heaven, hearkening to the lessons of divine wisdom, meditating on the things that belong to our peace, and preparing, by special and protracted intercourse with the Father of all mercies and the God of all grace, to run with patience and diligence, the race that is set before us.

O may we be in the Spirit on this thy day! May we fully enter into its hallowed design; and may He to whom the day belongs, graciously be pleased to meet with us and bless us. As the good Shepherd of the sheep who knoweth his flock by name, may he suffer none of us to want. May he lead us in green pastures, and by still waters, and cause each of us to experience that thine ordinances are as a fountain of gardens, a well of living springs, and streams from Lebanon.

Thou art acquainted with the circumstances and peculiar necessities of each one now before thee. May He who feeds his flock like a shepherd, gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom. May he vouchsafe his presence and grace to all with whom we shall worship: and as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so let him seek out his people every where, and adapt himself this day to their diversified cases and wants. May he seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away: may he bind up that which is broken, and strengthen that which is sick: upon the high mountains of Israel may he cause their fold to be, and in a good pasture may he feed them. May one shepherd be over them, who shall feed them, even thy servant David: may he feed them, and be their shepherd.

To thy mercy, O Lord, we thus commend ourselves and all our fellow-worshippers, and all thy true people scattered throughout the world. Meet with them and with us, O Lord; and commune with us from off thy mercy-seat. Without thee, Sabbaths are but days of clouds and thick darkness; ordinances but as wells without water; and the society of thy people but a joyless and unprofitable fellowship. Let thy presence be with us, and our darkness becomes light; our thirsty souls are refreshed and satisfied; our emptiness is turned into fulness, and our mourning into joy. Through the ministrations of thy servants, let thy word reach our souls. In our applications to thy throne, may we experience the gracious

and comforting assistance of thy good Spirit; and in our attempts to praise thee, may our hearts be touched as with a live coal from off thine altar, and send up lively expressions of grateful and devout acknowledgment, as clouds of acceptable incense to thy throne in heaven.

O let not the sins that cleave to us-the imperfections that stain our best services-the low and worldly thoughts that are apt to intrude upon us in our holiest moments, repel thee from us, or induce thee to hide thy face from us. But remember us, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people : visit us with thy salvation. Cause us to see the good of thy chosen, to rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, and to glory with thine inheritance. And all that we ask is for the sake of Him who died for us, and who rose again; and to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, be all glory for ever. Amen.

SUNDAY EVENING.

O LORD, with whom is the residue of the Spirit, pour down upon us, we beseech thee, of thy Holy Spirit, that we may now present to thee an offering in righteousness, while we call upon the name of the Lord.

On this the evening of thy day, we would remember all thy goodness, and bless thee for it: we would remember all our unworthiness, and while

we deprecate thy displeasure, we would sing aloud of thy past forbearance and tender mercy. Under a lively impression of the claims of thy goodness, we would now repeat the vows our lips have uttered in thy sanctuary, and beseech thee to accept of us and to bless us as thine own. We lament the unworthy service thou hast had at our hands. We lament that though formed for thyself, that we might show forth thy praise, we have departed from the design of our being, and come short of thy glory.

And, O Lord, we lament that even this day, set apart for thy service, has afforded but too many testimonies to the evil that dwelleth in us, to the frailty that belongs to our best purposes, and to the imperfection that attaches to our sincerest endeavours to do thy will. To us, O Lord, belong at all times shame and confusion of face. And after we have done all, what can we say but, " God be merciful to us sinners." Be merciful unto us, O God, be merciful unto us. Though thine eye hath this day been upon us, and though thou hast beheld sin staining and marring whatever we have laid upon thine altar; though thou mightest justly despise our persons, and reject our offering, and send back our prayers unheard, unanswered, and empty into our bosoms, yet let thy great mercy be moved towards us, and let the tokens of thine acceptance and favour be graciously vouchsafed to us.

For the sake of thy dear Son, let all the sin that hath followed us into thy house and defiled our services, be taken away and forgiven. Let the prayers

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