Thursday Morning — Week 1

O Lord, Thou art good, and Thou doest good. Thou hast revealed Thyself as nigh unto all that call upon Thee, to all that call upon Thee in truth. May we who now address Thee be found the heirs of this promise; nor suffer us to incur the reproach of drawing near to Thee with the mouth and honouring Thee with our lips, while our hearts are far from Thee. Unite our hearts to fear thy name; and grant that we may worship Thee in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. We remember that we are sinners, and acknowledge the multitude and aggravations of our offences. Conscious not only of the reality, but the greatness, of our guilt, we could indulge no hope, hadst not Thou exhibited thine infinite benevolence, and revealed a Mediator, in whom Thou art reconciling the world unto thyself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.

Thou hast not left thyself without witness, in that Thou hast been doing us good, and giving us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. But herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Blessed be thy name, we have all the certainty we could desire, that with Thee there is mercy. That mercy the publican sought, and found: that mercy has never disappointed any that trusted in it; that mercy at this very moment cries to us, Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find. O Lord, we avail ourselves of thine invitation, and plead thy promise! According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out our transgressions. Create in us also a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us.

We hope we are convinced that while many things are desirable and some useful, one thing is needful; and that instead of the inquiry, What shall I eat, and what shall I drink, and wherewithal shall I be clothed? the supreme anxiousness of our soul is, What must I do to be saved? O visit us with thy salvation, in the illumination of the mind, and the sanctification of the life; in all the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and in all the fruits of the Spirit. May we willingly obey all thy commands, and cheerfully submit to all thy appointments. In the annihilation of self-will, and in the temper of implicit devotedness, may we, as to every duty, say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And as to every event, Here I am, let Him do what seemeth Him good. Grant us piety and wisdom to accommodate ourselves to the allotments of life; and enable us to maintain a christian temper and behaviour in all the changing scenes of providence, that all things may work together, if not for our gratification, yet for our good.

May we disengage ourselves from the present evil world, and be received and acknowledged as the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. May the righteous be our attraction and delight; and though few in number, and despised by the foolish and wicked, may we go with them, because God is with them: and like Moses, may we choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

May we walk by faith, and not by sight. May we weigh both worlds, and may the future and the eternal preponderate. May this be our growing experience as well as profession—As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.

By thy mercies we renew this morning the consecration of ourselves to thy service. Go forth with us into the concerns of the day. Keep us in all our ways. Innumerable are our dangers; but the greatest of all is sin. Uphold our goings therefore in thy word, and let no iniquity have dominion over us. May we abstain from all appearance of evil; and the very God of peace sanctify us wholly: and may our whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And to God only wise, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all honour and praise for ever and ever. Amen.