Part 4

But I rejoice to think that though Heaven is Thy dwelling-place Thou deignest to dwell in the humble and contrite heart; no sacrifice dost Thou so love as that of the broken spirit; no incense so prized by Thee as the incense of a grateful, believing soul, which, oppressed with its own unworthiness and sin, reposes with unwavering trust in the work and righteousness of the Great Surety.

Lord, on this ever-living, ever-loving Saviour I desire wholly to lean. As helpless, hopeless, friendless, portionless, I cast myself on Him who is Helper of the helpless and Friend of the friendless. There is nothing but Thy sacrifice and intercession, O Thou Lamb of God, between me and everlasting destruction. O wash every crimson and scarlet stain away in Thy precious blood. Let me lie low at the foot of Thy cross. Give me a lowly estimate of myself, and a lofty view of Thy all-glorious work and finished righteousness. I have no other hope of mercy, and, blessed be Thy name, I _need_ no other.

While I take Thee as my Saviour, may I be enabled to follow Thee also as my pattern; conscious of the supreme enthronement of Thy love in my heart, may I feel superior to all the fluctuations and changes of a changing world. May I live as the chartered heir of a better inheritance; while in the world, may I seek not to be of it. May I diffuse around me the noiseless influence of a heavenly life, subordinating all I do to Thy glory. Lord, enable me to be useful in the sphere in which Thou hast placed me, to work while it is called to-day, remembering that there is no work nor device nor labor in the grave whither I am going.

Bless all in sorrow. Sanctify their trials. Keep us ever from the guilty atheism of looking to second causes. May we ever rejoice in the elevating assurance that "the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth," and that Thou orderest all things wisely and well. May the Holy Spirit the Comforter pour his own balm into every bleeding heart.

Have mercy on a world lying in wickedness. Hasten that glorious period when creation, now groaning and travailing in sin, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption and be translated into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Let Thy word everywhere have free course and be glorified. May Jesus, faithfully "lifted up" by the attractive power of his cross, draw all men unto him.

Let Thy best benediction rest on my friends. The Lord watch between them and me when we are absent one from another. May we experience Thy guardian care this night; and if spared to awake in the morning, may it be to spend a new day in Thy service, through Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.

"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE."

TWENTY-THIRD EVENING.

FOR FIRMNESS IN TEMPTATION.

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."--James iv. 7.

O God, Thou art from everlasting to everlasting. Loving me at the beginning, Thou hast promised to love me even unto the end. Notwithstanding all the fitful changes of my own changing heart towards _Thee_, there _has_ been, and _can_ be, no shadow of turning in Thy covenant faithfulness towards _me_. I am at this hour the monument of Thy mercy--a living comment on the words, "Thy ways are not as man's ways, nor Thy thoughts as man's thoughts."

If I have been enabled in any degree to resist the assaults of temptation, it is all Thy doing. I am "kept by the power of God." Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul must long ere now have dwelt in silence. By the grace of God I am what I am.

Lord, indulged and cherished sin unfits me for the enjoyment of Thy service and favor. I have to lament my proneness to evil, the natural bias of my heart to that which is opposed to Thy pure and holy will. When I would do good, sin is too often present with me. I feel the power of my spiritual adversaries. If left to myself and my own unaided resources, I must often hopelessly resign the conflict.

But I rejoice to think that there is help and hope and strength at hand. I would look to Him who is now bending upon me an eye of unchanging love from the throne. All Thy ascension glories, blessed Redeemer, have not obliterated the tenderness of Thy humanity. Thou art "that same Jesus;" Thou, the abiding Friend, art still left changeless among the changeable; and when Satan often desires to have me, that he might sift me as wheat, it is Thy intercessory prayer that saves me from utter ruin. Thou art pleading for me, that my faith fail not! Oh may I be found invincible in the hour of temptation, being made more than conqueror through Him that loved me. Sheltered in Thee the true Refuge, the wicked one will touch me not.

Let me not trifle with my own soul or with the momentous interests of eternity. Let me every day be living under the realizing consciousness that Thy pure eye is upon me. Keep me from all that is at variance with Thy gracious mind. Keep me from unchristian tempers, from an unholy or inconsistent or uneven walk. By a Christ-like demeanor may I exhibit the sanctifying and transforming influence of the Gospel on my own soul, that others may take knowledge of me that I have been with Jesus.

God of Bethel! do Thou take under Thy protecting providence all related to me by endearing ties. However far we may be separated from one another, let us never be separated from Thee. Let us often rejoice in this our common meeting-place; that around Thy mercy-seat in spirit we can assemble, and lay our evening incense in the one Golden Censer of our gracious High Priest!

Take charge of me this night, defend me from all danger; whether I wake or sleep, may I live together with Thee; and all that I ask or hope for is in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, my only Saviour. Amen.

"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE."

TWENTY-FOURTH EVENING.

FOR COMPOSURE IN TRIAL.

"Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight."--Matt. xi. 26.

O God, I come into Thy presence this night, rejoicing that amid all earth's vicissitudes, I have in Thee a rock that cannot be shaken. Thou doest according to Thy will in the armies of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth! Thou doest all things well, and nothing but what _is_ well. There is no finite wisdom in Thy dealings. All is the result of combined faithfulness, power, and love. Let me repose in the righteous ordinations of Thy will. If Thou withhold from me earthly blessings, let me feel that the very denial is precious because it is Thy sovereign pleasure. Covenant love and wisdom cannot lead or teach me wrong; every burden is imposed by Thee. The lot may be thrown into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.

O Thou who turnest the shadow of death into the morning, may every wilderness-storm only drive me nearer Thyself, my true shelter. Thou takest the sting from every cross, the bitterness from every cup. Let me recognise in all that befalls me the tokens of a Father's love; and if sense and sight should at times fail to descry "the bright light in the cloud," may I see written over every dark trial Thine own unanswerable challenge, "He that spared not his own Son, but gave Him up to the death for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

Lord! the end of all Thy sovereign dealings is to subjugate my wayward will, and to unfold more of the preciousness of Jesus. Blessed Spirit of all grace! do Thou take of the things that are Christ's and show them unto my soul. Let me not stagger at the promises through unbelief. Let me see nothing but love in the past, love in the present, and love looming through the mists of a cloudy future. Thou, O God, art seated by every furnace; all is meted out, all is provided for; all has a "need be" in it! Magnify the power of Thy grace in me, by a sweet spirit of patient submission to Thy righteous ordinations. May I seek to have no other prayer than this, "Father, glorify Thy name." Impart Thou that inner sunshine which no outward darkness or trial can obscure. May the peace of God, which passeth understanding, keep my heart.

May Thy Holy Spirit shed abroad His blessed influences over the whole Church. Revive Thy work, O God, in the midst of the years. In wrath remember mercy. May Thy ministers be more faithful. May Thy people be more close and consistent in their walk with Thee. May the young be growing up in Thy fear and favor; may the aged find in Thee the staff of their declining years. May the sick and afflicted pillow their head on Thy promises. May the dying fall asleep in Jesus.

I commend myself, my friends, and all belonging to me, to Thy paternal care and keeping; and when earth's long night-watches of trial and sorrow are ended, may I wake up in the sorrowless morning of glory, to enjoy uninterrupted fellowship with Thyself. Through Jesus Christ, my only Lord and Saviour. Amen.

"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE."

TWENTY-FIFTH EVENING.

FOR ACTIVITY IN DUTY.

"Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord."--Romans xii. 11.

Lord, I come to Thee this night rejoicing in the thought that Thou faintest not, neither are weary: Thou art ever good, and doing me good. Thine arm is never shortened, Thine ear is never heavy. The gates of prayer are ever open. The Throne of the Heavenly Grace is ever accessible, none of Thy children need perish with hunger!

May the darkness now gathering around me be as the shadow of Thine infinite presence. I take comfort in the thought that the Shepherd of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps; that He is ever bending over me his watchful, untiring eye, compassing my path and my lying down, and holding up my doings that my footsteps do not stumble.

Lord, how sad is the contrast of Thine unwearied and unwearying watchfulness, with my negligence and inactivity in Thy service. How little have I sought to promote Thy glory. How little have I felt the solemnity and responsibility of being a steward in Thy household! Let me be more zealous for Thy honor in the future. Let me seek more than I have ever yet done, to ask in the midst of life's duties and engagements, its perplexities and trials, in simple faith, "Lord! what wouldst thou have me to do?" Let me feel that duty is a delight when done for Thee. Keep me from further relaxing my diligence. Let me not mock Thee any longer with the wrecks of a worn affection. Let there be no half-surrender of the heart and life to Thee, but may soul and body be consecrated as living sacrifices, and may I have the growing experience that active obedience in Thy service is self-rewarding.

Lord! I have indeed a vast work to do and a brief time to do it in. May opportunities and talents, while I have them, be cheerfully given to Thee. May the warning words oft sound in my ear, "Work while it is called today, for the night cometh wherein no man can work." Oh prepare me for my Saviour's coming. Forbid that I should be found among the slothful servants or the faithless stewards who are squandering their Lord's money, and are living, forgetful that a time of reckoning is at hand! May I be so waiting and so watching, and so working, that the cry may never break too soon or too suddenly on my ears--"Behold, the Judge standeth before the door!"

Send forth thy gracious Spirit into a world lying in wickedness. Scatter the darkness that is now brooding over the nations. Bless all thy ministering servants; may they be valiant for the truth; may the Lord send His own angel to stand by them, and to shut the mouths of every adversary.

Bless all my friends; may they too be working out their own salvation with fear and trembling, and so be found at last prepared for the appearing and kingdom of Jesus.

Take me under Thy protecting care this night; vouchsafe me a season of refreshing repose; spare me to awake in Thy favor; and may every returning morning find me better prepared for the glorious noon-day of immortality; through Jesus Christ, my ever-living Saviour. Amen.

"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE."

TWENTY-SIXTH EVENING.

FOR THE SPIRIT'S TEACHING.

"As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."--Rom. viii. 14.

O Lord, Thou art the God of my life and the length of my days. There is no real happiness independent of Thee. Thy favor is life. In vain can I seek for any satisfying portion in an unsatisfying world. If bereft of Thee I am bereaved indeed. But with Thy countenance shining upon me, I must be safe, I must be happy.

Do Thou pour down upon me the gifts and graces of Thy Holy Spirit. May he "garrison" my heart. May He write on its blood-besprinkled lintels the superscription, "Holiness to the Lord." Oh may this soul of mine become a living temple, an "habitation of God through the Spirit." Let me not trifle with convictions. Let me not grieve by my hardness and impenitency that gracious Agent, whereby I am sealed unto the day of redemption; but may all my affections be willingly surrendered to His service. By His omnipotent energy may every high thought and lofty imagination be brought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus. May I be enabled to lean upon Him in the extremity of my weakness. Fill me with all joy and peace in believing that I may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost; fitted for Thy service here, and for the enjoyment of Thee forever hereafter.

I pray for the outpouring of the same blessed Spirit on the whole Church. May He descend like rain upon the mown grass, and as showers that water the earth. Come from the four winds, O Breath, and breathe upon the slain in the valley! Hasten that glorious period when the year of Thy redeemed shall come, when the earth shall be full of the tabernacles of the righteous, in which the voice of joy and melody will continually be heard!

Oh that there were more in me of the mind of my gracious Saviour, on whom the Spirit was poured without measure. May I, like Him, be more meek and gentle, more amiable and forgiving, overcoming evil with good.--Transform me into the same image from glory to glory, by the Lord the Spirit.

Hide all my friends under the shadow of Thy wings. Put Thy good Spirit also into their hearts. May He guide them into all the truth, and reveal to them more and more of the preciousness of Jesus.

Let all poor afflicted ones rejoice in the presence and consolations of the promised Comforter; may He pour oil and wine into their wounds; may He strengthen them in the midst of all their tribulations, and enable them in lowly resignation to say, "The Lord's will be done." Teach us all to repose in that will as the best; and to make it day by day our aim and ambition to attain a greater conformity to it.

Lord, take the charge of me through the watches of the night. Under the blessed sense of Thy presence and favor I would compose myself to rest, and when I awake, may I be still with Thee. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen.

"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE."

TWENTY-SEVENTH EVENING.

FOR THE WORLD'S CONVERSION.

"The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."--Isaiah xi. 9.

O God, I desire to draw near into Thy blessed presence, beseeching Thee to lift upon me the light of Thy countenance and grant me a Father's blessing. I am utterly unworthy of Thy mercies. And it is only in Jesus, the Son of Thy love, that I dare venture to cast myself at Thy footstool.

I rejoice to think that in Him there is an open door of welcome; that He has by His doing and dying satisfied the demands of Thy righteous law, and magnified all Thy glorious attributes. I would bury all my sins in the ocean-depths of His redeeming love. Oh let me now know the blessedness of _living_, and at last the blessedness of _dying_, at peace with Thee, in the sure and certain hope of a resurrection to eternal life.

Darkness is still covering the lands, and gross darkness the people. Lord, do Thou have mercy on a world lying in wickedness. I rejoice to think of all Thy glorious promises concerning the latter day. That this creation of ours, now groaning and travailing in bondage under sin, is yet to be delivered from the yoke of corruption, and to be translated into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Glorify Thy great name in the salvation of sinners! Hasten the period of predicted glory, when all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God; when from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised. May Thine own omnipotent Spirit brood over the darkness, as He did over chaos of old, and say, "Let there be light, and there will be light." May gladsome voices soon be heard proclaiming, "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."

Oh may I know personally something of that compassionate yearning over ruined souls and a ruined world that my Saviour had. Let me be prodigal in devising means for the extension of His kingdom and the good of my fellow-men. I would pray the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth laborers to the harvest. Stand by Thy missionary servants. May they have many souls for their hire. May mountains of difficulty be levelled before them; may crooked things be made straight and rough places plain, and may the glory of the Lord be revealed. Let them exercise simple faith in the power of Thy word and the efficacy of Thy grace. May they feel that these are mighty as they ever were to the pulling down of strongholds.

Arouse Thy churches to greater zeal. May Jesus, faithfully lifted up by His servants, by the attractive power of His cross draw all men unto Him. May they be the honored instruments of preparing many gems for Immanuel's crown, who will be found unto praise and honor and glory at His second appearing.

Lord, guard me through the silent watches of the night; be the defence and protection of my friends and relatives; may they too dwell under the shadow of Thy wings and experience the sleep of Thy beloved; and when the night of earth's ignorance shall vanish away, may we all wake up in glory everlasting, through Jesus Christ, our only Lord and Saviour. Amen.

"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE."

TWENTY-EIGHTH EVENING.

FOR THE CHURCH'S REVIVAL.

"Revive Thy work in the midst of the years."--Hab. iii. 2.

O God, Thou hast permitted me in Thy great mercy to see another evening. How many of my fellow-men have this day slept the sleep of death, and are now beyond the reach of grace and privilege! I am still spared, all unworthy though I be, a monument of Thy forbearance and love.

I desire to make acknowledgment of my many and grievous offences. They are more in number than the sand of the sea;--sins against light, and mercy, and warning; sins committed against the kindest of Benefactors, the most indulgent of Parents.

I would seek anew to take refuge in the offered shelter of the Gospel, and to rejoice anew in the faithful saying that Jesus Christ came into the world to save the chief of sinners. Oh may I be enabled confidingly to repose in His matchless sacrifice, and with lively appropriating faith to say, "He loved _me_ and gave Himself for _me_!"

Lord, carry on Thine own work within me. Quicken my languid and languishing affections by the omnipotent agency of Thy Holy Spirit. Let me not live at a guilty distance from Thy favor; but may I covet a close and habitual walk with Thee, and feel the sustaining power of Thy grace in my heart.

Revive Thy work in Thine own Church universal, Thou great High Priest, who walketh in the midst of the golden candlesticks. Do Thou feed every lamp with the oil of Thy grace. Let them burn with a clearer, holier, more steady and consistent flame. As lights set in the world, may they diffuse Thy glory; and feel the honor of being instrumental in shedding abroad a Saviour's love.

Oh may the Lord arise and have mercy upon Zion. May the time to favor her, yea, the set time, soon come. As there is but one Shepherd, so may there soon be but one sheep-fold. Let Thy churches no longer continue apart from one another in unholy estrangement, but live in the unity of the Spirit and in the bond of peace; holding fast that which they have, that no man take their crown. Spirit of all grace, come in all the plenitude of Thy love and mercy. Breathe upon every portion of Thy visible Church, and say, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost!" "Awake, O north wind! come, thou south! blow upon our garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." May Thy gracious influences descend like rain upon the mown grass, and as showers that water the earth.

Bless all Thy faithful ministers. May peace be upon them and upon the whole Israel of God. Direct their hearts and the hearts of all Thy faithful people into Thy love, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

Comfort all in sorrow. May they see a "need be" written on all their trials. May they look beyond the long night-watch of earth to the glories of that eternal morning when clouds and darkness shall for ever flee away.

Take charge of me while I sleep, and as evening after evening comes round may I feel that a day has been spent for Thee. Hear me, gracious Lord, for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.

"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE."

TWENTY-NINTH EVENING.

FOR SUPPORT IN DEATH.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me."--Ps. xxiii. 4.

O God, I come to Thee this night through Jesus Christ, the Son of Thy love, beseeching Thee to have mercy upon me, and to impart unto me that Peace of Thine which passeth all understanding. Blessed be Thy great and glorious name for those hopes full of immortality which have been opened up to me in the Gospel. I rejoice in Christ as the great Abolisher of death. I rejoice that the rainbow of covenant faithfulness spans the entrance to the dark valley; that all that is terrible in the last enemy is in Him taken away, and that I can regard these closing hours of existence as the introduction and doorway into everlasting bliss.

Give me grace, O God, to be living in constant preparation for death. Let me not unprofitably squander my present golden moments. Let me _live_ while I _live_--let me live a dying life. Let me feel that life is a trust given me by Thee. O Thou Great Proprietor of my being, may this all important talent of time be more consecrated to Thy glory. Let it not be mine, when the hour of death arrives, to bewail, when it is too late, lost and forfeited opportunities. Let me not leave till then, what best can be done and what only _may_ be done now. May it be my earnest endeavor while it is called today to secure a saving interest in the everlasting covenant, and then I need not fear how soon the silver cord may be loosed and the golden bowl broken. Through Jesus the darkness has been taken from death, and to His own true people its shadows will melt and merge into the brightness of eternal day.

Thou art ever giving me impressive remembrances that "at such an hour as I think not," the summons may come, "Prepare to meet Thy God." The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Verily every moment there may be but a step between me and death. Let me be so living a life of habitual faith in the Son of God that this step may be changed into a step between me and glory.