may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of Thy holy word, I may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which Thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ: to Whom, with Thee, and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

SECTION II.

Private DEVOTONS for the MORNING,
—and EVENING of the LORD'S DAY.

AFTERNOON,

For the Morning of the Lord's Day.

¶ Read two or three paragraphs in Sect. I. p. 168.

Prayer consisting of preparatory acts of adoration, and devout supplications for the pardon of our sins and the assistance of God's Holy Spirit.

BLESSING, honour, adoration and praise be unto Thee, O Almighty and most glorious Lord God, the High and Holy One, Who inhabitest eternity, and art exalted infinitely above all blessing and praise.

Thou, even Thou art Lord alone, Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, the sea and all that therein is. Thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth Thee. Thousand thou

sands minister unto Thee, ten thousand times ten thousand stand before Thee. Angels, arch-angels, and all celestial powers to Thee continually do cry Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, Which was, and is, and is to come; Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are, and were created.

Lord, what am I, sinful dust and ashes, that I should dare to lift up mine eyes unto Thee, before Whose glorious Majesty, even those pure and blessed spirits veil their faces?

Pardon, I humbly beseech Thee, my innumerable transgressions of Thy holy laws, which might justly cause Thee to shut Thy merciful ears against all my prayers, and to cast me out of Thy presence for ever.

Pardon, O God, all the sins I have been guilty of in the course of my life, against Thee, my neighbour, or myself, in thought, word, or deed; my sins of ignorance and inadvertency, and my wilful presumptuous sins; those which I have done myself; and those which I have been any way accessory to in others.

O Lord, pardon also the iniquities of my holy things; my coldness, wanderings, and indevotion in prayer; my irreverent behaviour in Thy house, and weariness of Thy service; my backwardness to come to Thy holy table; my coming thither at any time without due preparation; and my repeated violations of the solemn vows and promises I have made at Thine altar.

O my God, pardon all my abuses of Thy mercies, and the unworthy returns I have made to all Thy benefits.

Pardon, I beseech Thee, my shameful unfruitfulness hitherto under all the means of grace, and make me more careful to improve all future opportunities; that as I grow in years, I may grow in grace; and the nearer I come to my end, I may be the more fit for that pure and perfect bliss, which Thou hast prepared

for those that devoutly worship and serve Thee, in the glories of Thy kingdom.

Assist me, I humbly pray Thee, in the great duties I have this day to perform: fill me with awful and affecting thoughts of Thy greatness, Thy holiness, Thy wisdom, power, and goodness; and with such a lively sense of mine own vileness and wretchedness; of my manifold necessities, and absolute dependence upon Thee, as may make me humble, lowly, fervent, and earnest at the throne of Thy grace; that so my prayers and praises may come before Thee as the incense, and the lifting up of my hands be a morning sacrifice acceptable in Thy sight, through the mediation of our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hymn for the Lord's Day.

CHRIST our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth 1.

Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin; but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord'.

Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive'.

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right

1 1 Cor. v. 7, 8.

2 Rom. vi. 9—11.

31 Cor. xv. 20-22.

hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory'.

For to this end Christ both died, and rose and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living2.

Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him3.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the First, and the Last.

I am He That liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen.

Salvation unto our God, Which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

General Thanksgiving.

BLESSED and glorious Lord God, the Creator, preserver, and governor of all things, my Saviour, and deliverer, and continual benefactor; I acknowledge and adore Thine infinite excellences and perfections, and let all creatures in heaven and earth say, Amen.

Blessed and hallowed be Thy holy Name for all Thy mercies over all Thy works; and particularly for Thy wonderful goodness and loving-kindness to the children of men; for creating us after Thine Own image, and appointing so great variety of creatures to minister to our use; for blessing us with fruitful seasons, and filling our hearts with food and gladness, and giving us so richly all things to enjoy.

1 Col. iii. 1-4.

2 Rom. xiv. 9.

3 1 Pet. iii. 22.

Particularly, I bless and praise Thy holy Name for Thy many distinguishing favours vouchsafed to us of this church and nation: for preserving to us the free and undisturbed profession of Thy true religion, and the invaluable blessing of a just and lawful govern

ment.

More especially I render thanks to Thee, most gracious God, for all Thy blessings to my friends, relations, and benefactors, particularly those most near and dear to me ****, for the innumerable favours Thou hast conferred upon me, Thy most unworthy creature ; for my being and preservation; my strength and health, my understanding and memory, and all my powers of mind and body; for Thy watchful care and providence over me ever since I was born; and for Thine unwearied patience and long-suffering towards me day after day: for defending me from all perils and dangers the night past; and for bringing me in health and safety to the beginning of this day.

But above all, with angels and archangels, with all the company of heaven, and with Thy holy church throughout the earth, I laud and magnify Thy holy Name for that most glorious manifestation of Thine incomprehensible loving-kindness and mercy, the redemption of the world by the eternal Son of Thy love, Christ Jesus, our Lord; for making a new covenant with mankind in Him; and for sending Him in the fulness of time to publish it by His doctrine, and to ratify it with His blood; for all the gifts and graces of Thy Holy Spirit.

Lord, give us and all Christian people grace seriously to consider, heartily to be thankful for, conscientiously to improve, and to walk worthy of those inestimable advantages we enjoy; that we who call ourselves Christians, may be so much the more Thy people in all holy obedience, as Thou art so much more our God in the distinctions of Thy bounty and

* Here may be enumerated any special blessing.