is not enough to say that thus are devout and grateful emotions awakened,—thus is faith in the superintending providence and holy promises of God confirmed, thus are the graces of humility, resignation, and patience, nourished and increased, while, with the contemplation of the infinite excellence, the unwearied beneficence, and the everlasting strength of the Lord Jehovah, we contrast the instability, deceitfulness, and desperate wickedness of the heart of man. By the infallible testimony of Heaven, we are authorised to affirm constantly that there is an efficacy in the prayer of faith, which, though inexplicable by our feeble understandings, must, through all ages, continue to avail as much as it did in the days of those patriarchs, prophets, and righteous men, who, as princes, had power with God, when, receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, they had grace to serve him acceptably with reverence and godly fear, The Lord is ever nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit, when, taking with them the words which inspired wisdom has taught them to utter, they lift up their desires at His footstool, not seeking great things for themselves, or panting after the dust of the earth, or sighing for the vain delights of the sons of men, but thirsting and longing for the blessedness of the man whose transgression is forgiven, and who, being justified by faith, has peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have no encouragement to hope that, by taking thought for temporal satisfactions, we shall find grace in the sight of the Lord; but if we aspire after the best gifts which are the heritage of the faithful, seeking first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, we believe, and are sure, that His Divine power will give us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Though our Father in the heavens knoweth what things we have need of before we ask them, and though the purposes of His everlasting kindness are often fulfilled more substantially by withholding than by granting the desires which we naturally cherish, it is only to them who worship Him in spirit and in truth, that He has promised to do exceeding abundantly above all that they ask or think; and we have no more solid ground to expect that we shall receive without asking, or that we shall find without seeking, than the husbandman has to look for an abundant harvest springing up in the fields which he has neither planted nor watered, or than the merchant has to calculate on receiving his own with usury, for the talent which has been tied up in a napkin, or buried in the earth. It is not for us to unfold the laws of the spiritual world, or to demonstrate why and how it is that the communications of heavenly influence and favour are in any degree suspended on the frequency and fervency of our supplications. But this we know, that, as in old time, the father of the faithful commanded his children, and his household after him, to unite with him in the exercises of a holy life, that the Lord might bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him,—even so, in all generations, may the willing and obedient hope, that, while seek

ing unto God, and committing their cause to Him who doeth great things and unsearchable, they place their confidence, not in their own importunity, or their own efforts; but in the exalted merit and prevalent intercession of the Mediator of the New Covenant, they cannot fail to be made partakers of that abundant grace which ought to be the chief object of all our prayers, and which is never denied to the humble. We know assuredly that our heavenly Father giveth His Holy Spirit to them who ask Him; and if, for the sake of His beloved Son, He is pleased to bestow this unspeakable gift in answer to the prayer of the believing soul, why should we hesitate to admit that it is of the Lord's mercies, that, by the eternal ordination of Divine wisdom, prayer has been rendered one of the sure and sufficient means of transmitting to the faithful every other good and perfect gift which cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning?

To the duties of social prayer and thanksgiving, accompanied with that instruction in righteousness which the reading of the Scriptures is calculated to impart, let the benefits thus conferred on your several domestic circles operate as a strong incitement. It is not, indeed, within the compass of human ability to infuse grace into the souls which are most tenderly beloved. But great will probably be the influence of a pious example on those who confide in your affection, and have cause to revere you worth. If your children and dependents perceive, that, while you are not slothful in the business of time, you are also fervent in spirit serving the Lord, and that, while you provide for your own the food and the raiment which are obtained by the blessing of God on the hand of the diligent, you ask for them that bread of heaven which strengtheneth the heart, may you not hope that they will be stirred up both to pray and to labour for the meat which endureth to life everlasting, and that they will learn to regard the favour of God as a better portion than the abundance of corn and wine? May you not hope, that while your own minds are elevated by contemplating the works of creation, providence, and redemption, and by reflecting on the dignified and endearing relation to which you have been raised in having 'received the Spirit of adoption, whereby you cry, Abba, Father,' they who look up to you for guidance and protection will take pleasure in approaching to God, and, through the experience of the peace of walking with the wise, will be taught to abhor the enticements of sinners, and to hold fast that which is good? And even in the case of those who, through perversity of heart, and the snares of an evil world, have forsaken the path of integrity and truth, may it not be hoped that the wise counsels which they have for a season forgotten, and the devotional habits which they have long failed to imitate, will, like the bread cast upon the waters, be found after many days? Small must have been your experience of the discipline of providence, if you have never known so much as one who had wandered so far from the way of peace as to disappoint the earnest expectations of his father, and to turn the joy of her who bare him into bitterness,

If you know these things by your own experience, or by the incontrovertible testimony of them who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, happy are ye if ye do them. Nor can you have peace and safety if, knowing what is good, you leave it undone.

And while you present your supplications for yourselves and your families, forget not the eternal concerns of the families which call not on the name of God. If it be, as it ought to be, your heart's desire, that they may be brought to the obedience of the gospel, brethren, pray for us, and for all the ministers of the truth, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you. Such an intercession as this will assuredly prove efficacious towards the enlargement of the household of faith, if all of you, both small and great, not only in the congregations of the upright, who in heaviness of heart sigh for the abounding of iniquity and the failing of truth, but in your families apart, and in your unseen retirements, prostrate yourselves at the footstool of your Father in heaven, who seeth in secret, and pour out your desires before Him in that effectual, fervent importunity which, like the long and patient waiting of the husbandman for

sure word of promise, issue in plenteous showers of blessings, not confined to any favoured spot, or any privileged community, but dropping down fertility far and wide over fields co-extensive with the inhabited world, filled as it shall be in that eveningtime of light with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea: and thus the God of the whole earth, in remembrance of His holy covenant, and in fulfilment of the good pleasure of His goodness, will arise and have mercy not only on the mountain of holiness in which He had His dwelling in time past, but on all in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord; so that, while He clothes His priests with salvation, and makes His people shout for joy, the ways of Zion, which have mourned because few came to the solemn feasts, shall be thronged with the multitudes who keep the holy day with thanksgiving in their hearts, and the high praises of God in their mouths,wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of those times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, when His work shall appear before the face of His servants, and His glory to their children; and they that fear the Lord, being all replenished with the riches of grace, shall take that sweet counsel together which revives the inward part, and knits the brotherhood of Christians in the unity of the faith and the holy bond of perfectness. Then shall the offering of His people be pleasant unto the Lord as in the days of old, and as in former years.' And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a defence.'

sit in the seat of the scornful. It is of thy mercy that we have not followed a multitude to do evil, and this day we would bless thy name for the institution of the Christian Sabbath. May we be enabled to commemorate with humility and thankfulness, the finished works of creation and redemption. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away. May we rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, and rose again for our justification, and who ever liveth to make intercession for us.

Be

pleased, O Lord, to send forth thy light and thy truth: let them lead us, let them bring us unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. May our delight be in the law of the Lord: and in thy law may we be disposed to meditate all the day. Sanctify us through thy truth; thy word is truth. Make us fruitful in every good word and work. Make us as trees planted by the rivers of water, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

Zion.

Bless to us, O Lord, for these and all other holy purposes, the reading of thy word and the public duties of thy sanctuary. Go with us to the house of prayer, and grant thy heavenly blessing to pastors and people, that whatsoever shall be spoken or heard, may be as it becometh the oracles of God. Suffer not the good seed to be choked, or to be rendered unfruitful by the cares or the vanities of this present evil world. Thou hast set thy King upon thy holy hill of May all nations be blessed in Him, and call Him blessed. May the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. Give thy Son the heathen for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. May the waste places of Zion be rebuilt, and the glory of the Lord arise upon ner as in the days of old. Visit, with thy special consolations, the sons and daughters of affliction. Let them receive, O Lord, this day a portion of the children's bread. We render our united thanksgivings for the blessings and privileges of the by-gone week, for the rest of the past night, and for the return of thy holy day. Unworthy of the least of all thy mercies, we cast ourselves on the exceeding riches of thy grace, in Jesus Christ our Lord; in whose words we sum up these our petitions, Our Father which art in heaven,' &c.

SABBATH EVENING.

face

In Psalm iv. we are taught that the Lord is a hiding place from the tempest, and a covert from the storm, both of outward persecution and of inward trouble: that to Him the righteous run and are safe. We learn the peculiar honour which God puts upon the godly man, and the gracious answers which He vouchsafes to his prayers of faith. We are instructed in the duties of habitual reverence towards God, abstinence from wilful sin, self-examination, meditation, and communion with the Most High. No sacrifices will be acceptable to the Lord but sacrifices of righteousness. It is our duty and privilege to dedicate ourselves wholly unto God. is, indeed, our reasonable service. All men have the desire of happiness, but it can be satisfied only by the enjoyment of God, and the uplifted light of his reconciled countenance. Great peace have they who love God's law, and nothing shall offend them.

This

In Psalm v. 1-3. we are taught the duty and privilege of early grateful prayer to God, as King 4-9. As a God of everlasting and Lord of all. holiness. hating iniquity and loving righteousness, He will destroy the wicked, and preserve his prayerful servants. He will banish the former from his presence, but the latter He will bring into his tabernacles, guide them by his counsel, and receive them to His glory. The treachery, cruelty, and deceit of the wicked against Christ and his church, are so great, that God alone is able to protect his people from their hatred, and to lead them in a plain path. Ver. 9. is a description of the natural character of all men, see Rom. iii. 9-20. The words 'destroy thou' in the original, are thou shalt destroy,' and to be understood either in the future or imperative sense, as a threatening, or as a prayer; in which latter case it is the Spirit of God, the advocate, vindicating, by David the type of Christ, the government of the holy and just God, in which all holy creatures will acquiesce and say 'even so, amen;' see Rev. i. 7. Ver. 11, 12. All the righteous

their shield and buckler.

PRACTICAL REMARKS.

How deceitful and desperately wicked is the human heart! From whence come wars and fightings? Come they not hence, even of our lusts, which war in our members. Heaven is the region of perfect concord; of unclouded and immortal friendship. Into that blissful land there shall enter nothing that can hurt or destroy. Let us strive to breathe more of its spirit and temper whilst we are on earth. What precious experience David had, amidst all his troubles, of the help and the consolations of his God and Saviour. In all things, let us likewise, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make our requests known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. With Jehovah as our sure defence, we need fear no evil. Myriads of wicked men and infernal spirits, cannot injure a hair of our head when God is on our side. If He be for us, who can be against us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword; nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us.' Opposition to pure and undefiled religion will, inevitably, cover all who indulge in it with shame and confusion of face. Our experience of the Lord's mercies ought to strengthen our faith in praying without ceasing, for the needed succours of His grace and Spirit. Prayer must be accompanied with 'the sacrifices of righteousness, for if we regard iniquity

in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us.' Let our treasure and our heart be in heaven, that we may experience true and lasting gladness-joy unspeakable and full of glory.

How delightful to have access to the presence of God at all times, as a refuge from trouble and oppression. How delightful and animating in the morning,' even a great while before day,' like our blessed Lord, to lift up our souls in prayer to God. Let us avoid the path and the company of the wicked, for they shall be destroyed, all of them,' and angels and redeemed spirits shall acknowledge the justice of their condemnation; and while it is our

duty, after this example of the Lord of glory, to long and pray for their forgiveness and salvation, even though our enemies, nevertheless we must acquiesce in the sovereign righteousness of God, in destroying the wicked, and say, 'even so, amen.' But let us remember, that by nature we are no better than they,' and that God alone can make us to differ;' and let our joy and praise be heard, because in punishing the wicked, God defends and blesses the faithful, though He plentifully rewardeth the proud

perienced thy gracious protection and lovingkindness. Bless the Lord, O our souls, and forget not all his benefits. We beseech thee, O God, to follow with thy richest blessing all the religious duties in which we and others have been engaged. May thy holy word sink deeply into our hearts. Forbid, O Lord, that it should prove to the condemnation of any of us that light is come into the world, but that we love darkness rather than light, because our deeds are evil. May we receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. Grant that thy Holy Spirit may impart to us spiritual discernment of the truth as it is in Jesus-enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Him-and working in us both to will and to do of thy good pleasure. We beseech thee, good Lord, to forgive the sins and infirmities with which we are all chargeable in the duties of this thy holy Sabbath. In every thing we sin and come greatly short of thy glory. Be merciful, O Lord, to our unrighteousnesses: and remember not our transgressions against us Grant that the whole services of the sanctuary on earth may be blessed for preparing us to join in the purer services of the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Lord, increase our faith, deepen our repentance, enlarge and sustain our charity towards all men. May we die daily unto sin, and live unto righteousness. May we stand in awe and sin not. May we commune with our own heart upon our bed in the night watches, and be still. Whatever be thy will concerning us, with respect to the good things of this life, be pleased to put gladness into our hearts; even the gladness of thy nation, that we may rejoice with thine inheritance. Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us, and give us peace through the peace-speaking blood of the down in peace and sleep: for thou, Lord, only great atonement, and we will both lay ourselves makest us dwell in safety.

doer.'

PRAYER.