Imatges de pàgina
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the good which I might have done; forgive me every thing by which I have estranged myself from thee, and neglected the benefit of my own soul. O Lord, whom can I look to for help but thee, even to thee whom I have offended, and to whom I am not worthy to lift up my eyes! "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" Give me grace to hate all evil as an offence against thy divine majesty; to see and to bewail my ignorances and infirmities, my negligences and errors; to combat with my sins, to endeavour unceasingly to subdue my depraved, selfish nature, and to strive to keep thy law constantly before my eyes, and to make thy word " a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path," that I may walk according to thy statutes. O Lord, mercifully grant that this night no evil shall befal me, no plague come near my dwelling. Grant that my body being refreshed by quiet sleep, my soul also may be renewed in truth and good, and that I may be spared gratefully to open my eyes to the light of another day, with a stedfast resolution of devoting it to thee and thy service, and of shunning all the faults that make me look back on this, now gone from me for ever, with shame and heaviness. Preserve, O Lord, my dear parents, and all this household, safe under the shadow of thy wings; turn our darkness into light, our weariness into strength, and grant that in the same manner our

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"I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people."

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

"O Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds."

"I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord."

"I will pay my vows unto the Lord now, in the presence of all his people. In the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord."---Ps. cxvi.

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"It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man." "It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes." "The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation." "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord." "The Lord hath chastened me sore, but he hath not given me over unto death." Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord." "I will praise thee, for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation." "Save me, I beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord I beseech thee send now prosperity." "Thou art my God, and I will praise

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thee; thou art my God, I will exalt thee." give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, and his mercy endureth for ever."---Ps. cxviii.

"Thou hast dealt with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word." "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept my word." "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes." "The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." 66 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me, give me understanding that I may learn thy commandments." "They that fear thee will be glad when they see me because I have boped in thy word." "I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." "Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant." "Unless thy law had been my delight, I should have perished in my affliction." "Hold thou me up and I shall be safe, and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.-Ps. cxix.

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"O Lord I will praise thee; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me." Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation."---Isaiah xii.

minds may be re-illumined with the rays of thy wisdom, and our hearts be invigorated anew by the repose of that peace which thou hast promised to thy people who put their trust in thee. Into thy hands, therefore, O Lord, I commit my spirit, for and thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth, through thy mercy I may say, turn thou again unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bounteously with thee. Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for an Orphan.

"In thee the fatherless find mercy."-HOSEA xiv.

O most merciful Lord, thou hast said that thou wilt be a father to the fatherless, and the help of bim that has no helper ; mercifully, therefore, look upon me, deprived by thy all-wise decree of my tender parents, and left young, and ignorant, and helpless, in this world of trial and suffering. "Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths; lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the dey." Mer

cifully look upon mine infirmities, pitifully behold the sorrows of my heart, favorably with mercy hear my prayers. Guide me, O Lord, in thy way, and teach me thy statutes; make me grateful and humble to those who take upon them the care and guidance of my youth. Prosper their endeavours for my good, and bless them for their kindness to me. Forgive me, O Lord, all that I have ever done amiss, all in which I have ever acted unkindly or undutifully to my dear parents, whilst I had the blessing, then too little valued by me, of their love; and grant that I may cherish in my mind a constant remembrance of their goodness, and an awful sense, as if in their presence, of all that they would delight to see me do; that so I may endeavour, with the assistance of thy Holy Spirit, to fit myself for the communion of saints and of just men made perfect, amongst whom, through thy infinite mercy, I may hope to meet them in thy kingdom. Merciful Lord, thou hast said that not a sparrow falleth to the ground without thy permission. O bear me up against all evil, and give thy angels charge over me, to keep me in all my ways, that so my understanding may be enlarged, and my will purified, that I may in all things submit myself to thy laws, and walk in thy way, and that I may be finally brought to thee by thy merciful

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