that it may ever be the joy of our hearts to be righteous as thou art righteous; to be merciful as thou, our heavenly Father, art merciful; to be holy as thou who hast called us art holy in all manner of conversation. O that the memory of our blessed Saviour, and his admirable example, may be always dear to us; that we may cheerfully follow him in his humility, meekness, patience, contentedness, peaceableness, and delight to do thy will, O God, in every thing as he did. Accept of our thanks for thy merciful preservation of us all this day, and here we are before thee with a new load of thy benefits added to all the blessings thou hast formerly bestowed upon us. Again we commit ourselves to thy protection for this night, and trust ourselves to thy care when we can take no care of ourselves: defend us from all evil, and raise us up in the morning, in such a sense of thy goodness, as shall encourage us with unwearied diligence in well doing. Give us grace to behave ourselves aright in our several relations, that we may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things: and being an honour to his religion here, may receive immortal honour and glory hereafter from the hands of Jesus Christ, our merciful Redeemer. Amen.

Meditation for Thursday Morning.

STRONG FAITH.

"O woman, great is thy faith."-Matt. xv. 28. What an honour is here put upon faith! and how great its effect! The Son of God is pleased to represent himself as even overcome, as conquered by it. Lord, increase my faith, and may it thus overcome.

Let me consider the nature and character of this faith. It was strong, it was humble, it was persevering.

1. It was strong. Faith is the great foundation-stone of the heavenly building; upon that we build our knowledge of God, of all he is, of all that he has done. It is faith that sets the seal to the truth of God's word, to the truth of his promise. It is faith that overcomes the world, overcomes wealth; a weak faith will sink like the waves under the feet of Peter, when we most need its support. A weak and wavering faith is like the waves of the sea, tossed to and fro, uncertain where to fix or on what to rest. Lord, let my faith be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen; though the inhe ritance is out of sight; though the glory

promised is yet to come, faith tells me it is secure. May I feel its full, its attractive force! May faith set it before my eyes! May I find it supply the place of presence of possession-of sight! By faith may my understanding be directed, my will determined, my affections moved, and my life governed. By this heavenly light may my darkness be done away, and my soul illuminated. Heavenly Father, give me eyes to see the glorious things which are set before me in the glass of thy gospel, and let me walk in this light!

HYMN.

Stand up, my soul, shake off thy fears,
And gird the gospel armour on,
March to the gates of endless joy,

Where thy great captain Saviour's gone.

Hell and thy sins resist thy course,
But hell and sin are vanquish'd foes;
Thy Jesus nail'd them to the cross,
And sung the triumph when he rose.

What though the prince of darkness rage,
And waste the fury of his spite,
Eternal chains confine him down,
To fiery deeps and endless night.

What though thine inward lusts rebel;
'Tis but a struggling gasp for life;
The weapons of victorious grace

Shall slay thy sins, and end the strife.

Then let soul march boldly on,

my

Press forward to the heavenly gate,
There peace and joy eternal reign,

And glittering robes for conquerors wait.

There shall I wear a starry crown,
And triumph in almighty grace,
While all the armies of the skies
Join in my glorious leader's praise.

PRAYER

For Thursday Morning.

Most gracious Father, we come to thee, encouraged by thy precepts and promises, and by the mediation of thy dear Son, to humble ourselves at thy footstool, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving. It is our great privilege to have this liberty of access to thee, and our best business and comfort to worship thee daily in our family.

We thank thee for making us capable of knowing and loving, serving and enjoying thee. Though by our apostacy from thee, and rebellion against thee, we have destroyed ourselves; yet, adored be thy

mercy, in thee is our help found. We thank thee for laying help for us upon one that is mighty, and able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. We thank thee, if Christ and salvation by him have been made in some degree precious to our souls. How great was thy mercy, which spared our lives, and kept us out of hell, while we were going in the paths of the destroyer! How much greater is thy mercy, in bringing any of us to a serious sense of our past sinfulness, in awaking us to a true repentance, and enabling us to seek after thy favour and friendship, as our highest happiness!

But we have ill requited thee for all thy goodness and love. The sins of our hearts and lives, of our childhood, youth, and riper age, testify against us. Long did we forget God and our souls, Christ and eternity, and live in ignorance and unbelief. We were long deceived by earthly vanities, and resisted too long the motions of thy Holy Spirit. Even since any of us have known thee, and engaged ourselves to thee, we have too often returned to folly, and have been negligent in loving and serving thee.

If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand! But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be fear