PRAYERS

FOR THE

SACRAMENTAL SABBATH.

I.

FOR THE MORNING OF THE COMMUNION SABBATH.

PSALM CXviii. 24. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

REFLECTION.

THIS is the day for the due performance of the services of which all my former acts of preparation have been instituted. I am this day to do the most solemn act which the Christian faith enjoins,

-to renew my baptismal engagement,-to commemorate the dying love of my Redeemer,-to take into my hands the cup which he consecrated as a symbol of his blood, shed for the remission of the sins of many, and the bread which he gave to his disciples, as a representation of his body which was to be broken for men,—and thus am I to pledge myself to be his true and devoted follower, throughout all the events of my earthly history,―that, after death, I may join the great company of all ages, who are for ever to be partakers with him of his heavenly kingdom.

How solemn, how magnificent, how interesting to all my feelings and hopes, as a sinful, a rational, and an immortal creature, is the service I am this day to perform,-and, oh! how anxious ought I to be that it may be done by me in a suitable frame of spirit!

And, oh! could I but keep this great Sabbathday holy, in all its parts, unto the Lord!-what a blessed thing would it be for me to be able to exclude but for one day, or even during the time of this lovely and magnificent service,—all unbecoming, all sinful, all unamiable, and earth-born thoughts,―to feel, in my conscious possession of

all pure, and heavenly, and charitable feelings, that I am not an unworthy guest at the table of the Redeemer, and thus to experience a foretaste, in time, of the peace and the triumph which are reserved for those who shall at last "enter into the joy of their Lord!"

But, alas! earthly cares will intrude,-sinful thoughts will spring up in my bosom,―harsh thoughts of my fellow-men will more or less poison my affections,—and I must feel, that, however holy the service, I am still encompassed with infirmity, and have need to ask pardon of God even for the manner in which I perform my most holy duties.

Yet it is consolatory to think, that the throne of grace is ever open,-and that there I may receive mercy to pardon, and grace to help me, and some suitable portion of all those dispositions which are necessary to fit me for this high duty.

To this throne of grace, then, let me now humbly apply, through the mediation of Him who once partook with his friends of this his farewell feast, but "who is now the Head over all things to the church,”—and, for whose sake, God has promised to refuse nothing that is truly good to his followers.

PRAYER.

Eternal Fountain of all light and truth, O send forth thy good Spirit to prepare me for the duties of this Communion Sabbath. It is for this day that all my previous exercises have been performed; and thou knowest how anxiously I have sought that I might be enabled to appear at the table of my Lord, as no unworthy guest on so high a festival.

me,

But, alas! O my God, I feel that sin and all its weaknesses and follies still adhere to me, and so far unfit me for this high communion ;when I would do good, evil is present with and the peace and pure devotional spirit which I had anticipated for myself, as the peculiar characteristics of this day, are sadly broken and obscured by many secret faults which bow down my spirit to the earth,-which poison the stream of feeling as it flows through my heart,-and which force me to feel, that it is not permitted to man, while encompassed with this mortal tabernacle, to present unto God a perfect service, or, indeed,

to make but an approach towards that pure state of the affections and wishes, which he feels, at the same time, to be so desirable for his own satisfaction, in appearing before the Father of his spirit.

But blessed be thy name that thou hast given us the condescending assurance, for relieving our fears, that “thou knowest our frames, and rememberest that we are but dust ;"-that "though thou art the high and lofty One that inhabitest eternity, thou delightest also to dwell with the man who is humble and of a contrite heart;"-and that the most acceptable worshipper, in thy holy service, is not the man who considers himself to be less sinful than other men, but rather he who "stands afar off," and is afraid to lift up his eyes to heaven, and smites upon his breast, crying, " God be merciful to me a sinner!"

“I will take, then, the cup of salvation, and will pay my vows before all thy people." I will approach the table of my Redeemer with a humble and contrite, but yet with a believing and thankful heart;—and I will bear in mind, while I thus seat myself as his friend, that the bread which is broken, and the wine which is poured out, are