We ask thy blessing upon us this night.

Let thy

our rest

peace be to this habitation. Let us go to with a conscience void of offence towards thee and all mankind. If any have injured us, may we forgive as we hope to be forgiven. If we have injured any, may our regrets secure thy compassion, and may we have. the dispositions to make all the amends in our power. We commend ourselves to thee. During our defenceless hours do thou defend us. As we lie upon our beds and meditate, let us remember the darkness and the light are both alike to thee, and may we enjoy continued tokens of thy favor. Under thy sheltering wing we lay ourselves down. May sweet sleep visit our eyelids. May we enjoy invigorating and healthful repose; and in the morning when we awake may our thought be still of thee. And unto thee will we render the praise and the glory forever. Amen.

XIX.

Searching our Ways.

The preparation of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, are from the Lord.

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.

Commit thy works to the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the

Lord though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right.

A man's heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps.

O GOD, who dwellest in the sanctities of heaven, and among the children of men, once more do we gather around our domestic altar to remember the loving-kindness which visited us in the morning, and which has attended us all the day long. Thou hast been with us, the members of this favored family, giving us the activity of our bodies, the vigor of our minds, and the strength of our affections. Thou hast ordered for us the events of the day. It has spoken to us of thy goodness; we will praise thee continually. Thou hast this day called us into the field of duty. Thou hast spread before us the exalted privileges and the precious hopes of Christians. Means, motives, encouragements, without number, thou hast afforded us, and nothing hast left undone which thou couldst have done for any. This day, in every scene through which we have passed, thou hast been calling us to glory, honor, and immortality.

And what, O God, have we rendered thee for thy boundless blessings? We would search our ways,

remembering that though clean in our eyes, thou, O Lord, weighest the spirit. We confess our blindness, and weakness, and sinfulness. We mourn the strength of our passions, and the feebleness of our resolutions. We fear that the objects and the interests of time, by which thou wouldst try us, and mould us into thy likeness, have too much absorbed us, and won the affections which belong unto thee. We feel that in the eagerness of our pursuits we have given to things seen and temporal that which belongs only to things unseen and eternal. We mourn that we have not better improved thy gifts, and that we have not a better account to render of the day that has passed over us. Pardon, good Lord, thy children, and may our watchfulness witness to the sincerity of our regrets, and a more vivid sense of thine unbounded goodness animate our zeal, and prompt us to new fidelity, every day that thou shalt spare us.

Remember us and those whom thou hast given us this night. Look down upon our unprotected dwelling, and guard our pillow. May the angel of the Lord encamp round about us, to deliver us from all evil. Let us behold the light of another morning, if it seemeth good to thee; or, if in thine infinite wisdom this repose shall become the repose of death, let us behold that glorious morning of the resurrection which no night shall follow. For which we pray ever to be prepared, in the name and as disciples of Jesus Christ. Amen.

M

XX.

Praise and Trust.

Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.

From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.

O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.

O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.

Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.

The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.

He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.

Ye are blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.

But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forPraise the Lord.

ever.

FATHER, ever-kind and ever-merciful, we thank thee, as the day is closing, for the blessings which its hours have brought to us. How good, how mindful of our wants, thou hast been! Thou hast spread the table of thy bounty, and we have had food convenient Thou hast surrounded us with friends, and

for us.

we have been encouraged by their words of sympathy and counsel. Thou hast given us labor to perform, and strength to perform it. Forgive us, we pray thee, if we have been slothful servants. Forgive us, our Father, if amidst all the enjoyments and labors of this day we have been unmindful of thee; for in thee we live, and move, and have our being. Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from thee. Without thee we can do nothing. Accept, we pray thee, our endeavors to do thy will this day.

We thank thee that thou didst not forget us, if we have forgotten thee; that thou didst help us in the hour of temptation, so that we did not yield; that thou didst direct our inquiries, as we were seeking our duty, so that we found it; that thou hast watched over us in our words and acts, in our hours of labor, and in our hours of repose, and brought us in health, and strength, and happiness, to the close of another day. How deeply should our hearts be moved with gratitude when we call all these blessings before us, and think of their value! We thank thee that by these daily labors and toils we may purify our souls and become like thee, and like Jesus Christ thy Son our Saviour. We thank thee that in the cares and obligations of our condition in life there is afforded us such an opportunity of becoming one with thee and one with Christ. May this day's experience give us courage for future labor and watchfulness. May every day's attempt to conform our lives to thy