TWENTIETH WEEK.—LORD’S DAY. — Morning

LORD God of Hosts! thanks to thy holy name that we see the light of another Sabbath. On this holy day of sweet and sacred rest Thou dost call us once more to special communion with our own hearts, with thy people, and with Thee. May we be in the Spirit on this Lord’s day; and let this blessing be enjoyed by all thy people.

O Lord, we are unworthy to appear in thy presence and engage in thy service. Our nature is corrupt, our heart is depraved; our spirit, speech, and behaviour all testify against us. Alas! we are stamped and stained with proofs of our sinfulness. Wherewith shall we come before the Lord, and bow ourselves before the high God?

Our trust is in our great High Priest, who died the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. Eternal thanks for Him whom Thou hast appointed to this office on our behalf. We have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity. He knows our frame, and grants us his sympathy and succour. Through Him we draw near with humble boldness to thy throne of grace. Our dependence is on his finished work—his prevailing intercession: We plead his name; we rely on his merits; we trust in his power and promise. We rejoice that He is the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him. Behold, O God, our Shield, and look upon the face of thine Anointed. Grant that we and our services this day may be accepted through our great High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

O our Father, have compassion on us, for we are ignorant and compassed with infirmities. Give us pardon and peace through the blood of the Lamb, that we may worship Thee in sincerity and earnestness. May our sorrows, as well as our mercies, be sanctified to us; and, like thy beloved Son, may we learn obedience by the things which we suffer.

O Lord, we beseech Thee, bless abundantly the provisions of thy house on this thy day. May thy ministers have a double portion of thy Holy Spirit to aid them in their great work; and may we go to the sanctuary hungering and thirsting for thy grace. Alas! we have not prized our privileges, nor improved them as we ought. We have been dull of hearing; we need to have line upon line, and to be instructed again and again in the first principles of the oracles of God. This day meet with us, and bless us. As new-born babes, may we desire the sincere milk of the word. May we grow in faith and love, in meekness and spirituality, in activity and usefulness, and every gift and grace, till, through thine infinite mercy, we reach the measure of a perfect man in Christ Jesus our Lord. We ask every blessing for his sake. Amen.