TWELFTH WEEK.—TUESDAY. — Evening

O LORD, we praise Thee as our Creator; Thou madest us, and not we ourselves. We praise Thee as our Preserver; for in Thee we live, and move, and have our being. We praise Thee as our Redeemer; for in Thee we have redemption through Christ’s blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. We praise Thee, O Jehovah, as his Father, who loved us from eternity; as the Son that died for us on the cross; as the Holy Ghost, that comforteth and sanctifieth us; and as the ever-blessed and undivided Trinity, to whom we would now ascribe glory, honour, praise, and power. Hear us, Lord, when we cry unto Thee.

We have sinned against Thee, and are not worthy to be called thy children. Father, forgive us; stretch forth thy hand and lift us up, and be our strength and our hope. Oh, create within us clean hearts, and renew within us right spirits. We cannot be happy till we become holy, and we can never be holy till thy Spirit take up his abode with us, and renew and sanctify us. Be pleased to reconcile us to Thyself.

Our Father which art in heaven, make us thankful for our numerous and undeserved mercies; above all, for Jesus, thine unspeakable gift. Help us to open our hearts when He knocks for admission. God forbid that we should shut Him out, and give entrance and entertainment to sin and Satan. Come, O Spirit of the Lord, open the gates of our affections, and let the King of Glory come in. We lament before Thee our weakness of faith, our feebleness of hope, and our deadness of affection. Our sins prevail against us, and are more in number than the hairs of our head; but we look to Thee for mercy. Kindle a holy love in our hearts, and cause all that is within us to bless thy holy name. Make thy will to be our will, and so we shall be filled with grace and peace. Feed us, O Lord, with the bread of life, of which, if we eat, we shall never die. Strengthened by this food, we will go on our way rejoicing, till it pleases Thee to take us to heaven, where we shall neither hunger nor thirst any more. Till then, O holy Saviour, hedge up our way, even though it be with thorns, that we go not aside from the path that leads to life everlasting. Help us continually to expect death and the judgment to come; help us, like the Apostle, to die daily; help us to resist the world, the devil, and the flesh; and when all thy purposes regarding us in this world have been accomplished, oh, receive our ransomed spirits into the kingdom of thy dear Son, that we may live and reign with Him for ever. We ask all for His name’s sake. Amen.