SIXTEENTH WEEK.—SATURDAY. — Evening

ACCEPT our hearty thanksgivings, O gracious God and Father, for the mercies of the past day, and of the past week. Great indeed is thy goodness and long-suffering. May we be more and more grateful, and endeavour more diligently to show forth thy praise. Oh, that we may remember day by day that we are not our own; that all we are and all we have is thine, and that of thine own are we giving Thee even when we devote ourselves most fervently and obediently to thy service.

Convince us, O Lord, of our sinfulness. We were born in sin, the children of wrath, and sin cleaves to our best and holiest services. We have no merit or goodness of our own. All our hope and trust are in thy dear Son. Oh, that we may be found in Him, our crucified and living Redeemer; and, clothed with his righteousness, be free from every spot and stain of sin. Grant that, having experience of thy saving grace, we may count all things but loss in comparison of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. Conform us, we beseech Thee, to his likeness. We desire, O God, to forget the things that are behind, and to press forward to higher attainments in godliness, to a larger acquaintance with thy Word, and a more abundant assurance of thy favour.

Forgive our past sloth and indolence. Let not our misuse of opportunities and privileges cause Thee to withhold from us grace and strength for the future. As citizens of a heavenly kingdom, may we live in the world beneath thy protecting care, and be kept from its evil while we look and wait for the coming of the Lord.

Take us, we pray Thee, and all who are dear to us, unto thy Divine care for the night. May our sleep be sweet and refreshing, so that we may rise strengthened in body and soul, and be ready to enter with thankfulness and joy on the duties of thy holy day. Prepare our hearts for them. Stir up in us deep and earnest desires for spiritual blessings; that, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, our souls may be filled out of thy fulness. O Lord, thou knowest how weak and ignorant we are, and how, through our own unbelief, we miss many mercies which Thou preparest for us. Increase our faith and enlarge our expectations, and let not the great enemy of our souls deprive us of our confidence in Thee, or make us ashamed of our hope in thy Word. Be with thy ministers in all their preparation for the Sabbath. Give them the anointing of the Holy One, that they may dispense thy Word with power.

Lord, hear us in thy mercy, and bless us, for the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.