Saturday Morning — Week 3

O Thou everlasting God, the creator of all the ends of the earth, and the father of the spirits of all flesh — We have destroyed ourselves, but in Thee is our help. Our nature is defiled; all the powers of our souls are degraded ; we are vile, we are miserable, we are without strength. We condemn ourselves, and confess that we deserve to perish. If ever we are saved, it must be by goodness the most undeserved and astonishing; not only by mercy, but abundant mercy; nor only by grace, but the exceeding riches of thy grace.

And such mercy and grace Thou hast been pleased to reveal and to promise and to exemplify. Thou hast told us thy designs, and unlike the forebodings of our guilty minds, they are thoughts of peace and not of evil.

We bless Thee for devising means to rescue us from the perdition of sin, and restore us to a state of happiness and honor and safety, superior to our original condition. We bless Thee for the provisions of the everlasting covenant, and for the constitution of a Mediator between Thee and us. We rejoice that He failed not, nor was discouraged, but accomplished the work that was given Him to do, and said on the cross, It is finished. We exult in the thought that now thy justice is satisfied, thy truth established, thy law magnified, and a foundation laid even in thy own glory for our hope.

May we look after present and personal interest in Christ, and never rest till we can say, Surely He hath borne our grief, and carried our sorrow; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by his stripes we are healed. May we know that in Him we have righteousness and strength, and are blessed with all spiritual blessings While we are justified by his blood, may we be saved by his life. While we glory in his cross, may we bow to his sceptre, and long to have the same mind in us which was also in Him, knowing that if we have not the spirit of Christ we are none of his.

We are convinced that it is our happiness as well as duty to walk in thy ways, to keep thy statutes, and to submit to thy appointments; but we are equally convinced that thy grace alone is sufficient for us, and that without Thee we can do nothing. We cannot even stand, but as we are upholden by thy free Spirit. But with Thee is the residue of the Spirit: and Thou hast engaged to give thy Holy Spirit to them that ask Thee : yea, Thou hast said Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. Bless us therefore with constant and increasing supplies of grace and strength; work in us to will and to do of thy good pleasure ; and fulfil in us all the good pleasure of thy goodness, and the work of faith with power.

May our religion, instead of being an occasional and partial thing, be universal and invariable in its influence and effects. May we be in the fear of the Lord every day, and all the day long. May we hold communion with Thee in thy works as well as in thy word, and in the dispensations of thy providence as well as in the ordinances of thy house.

May we always distinguish between the form of godliness and the power thereof; and between life and a name to live. What is the hope of the hypocrite though he hath gained, when Thou takest away his soul? O make us Israelites indeed in whom is no guile. Often may we examine ourselves, and inquire whether our religion will bear the eye of God. If we are not right, set us right and keep us right. Search us, O God, and know our heart ; try us, and know our thoughts ; and see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting.

Impress us with a conviction of the vanity of the world, and the brevity and uncertainty of the time of our continuance here ; that we may keep the end of life in view, and apply our hearts unto wisdom.

We are ignorant, and liable to a thousand delusions; but Thou knowest what is good for us. To Thee therefore we commit our works and our way ; and to Thee we refer the choice of our inheritance. Only be with us, and keep us in the path that we go, and give us bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that we come to our Father's house in peace ; and the Lord shall be our God.

And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with us all now and for ever. Amen.