FAMILY PRAYERS. First Week. LORD'S DAY MORNING. LORD of the Sabbath! Who hast made it for man who biddest its sun again to rise upon us: who causest all its blessings to return! Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name. Thou art the Creator who wouldst not rest until Thy works were finished and shone forth very good. We commemorate this achievement of Thy might, Thy wisdom, Thy benevolence. We would declare Thy doings among the people.-But He, who is our God, is the God of salvation: and a more illustrious deed do we now record. Thy Son, who hath entered into His rest, hath ceased from His own works as Thou, O Father, didst from Thine. We come not early to His tomb, but to His throne; not with embalmment of sweet spices B for Him who is dead, but we would sing praises, yea, we would sing praises, to Him who could not be holden of death, who could not see corruption, who dieth no more, who hath the power of an endless life. God hath gone up with a shout: the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, that the King of glory may go in. We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, now crowned with honour and glory. Thou, O Saviour, hast ascended on high: Thou hast led captivity captive: Thou hast overcome. Thy right hand and holy arm have gotten Thee the victory. Well hast Thou won Thy right to govern all things. On Thy head, once pierced by thorns, be all the crowns of earth,-on Thy brow be the diadem of the universe! We adore Thee, O God, that this day of festivity revisits us: a day of light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. We rejoice that those sufferings which only closed on the Cross, and those abasements which only ended in the Grave, of Jesus, are for ever past! We could weep for joy that His visage, more marred than any man's, buffeted and spit upon here, now beams as the sun in its strength; that the eyes, which often filled with tears, are as a flame of fire; that His nailed feet stand in the midst of the throne; that the hand, which bore the reed, now wields a right sceptre; that the voice which broke in sorrow, and sunk in death, now speaks the law of heaven, earth, and hell. O how delightful to know that He shall groan in spirit, that He shall be put to shame, that He shall be set at nought, no more! How sweet is it to unite our voice to the melody of angels in the jubilee of His eternal praise! May we join ourselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, keeping the Sabbath from polluting it and taking hold of His covenant. We would call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable. Let us turn away our foot from doing our pleasure on this holy day: or rather be it our pleasure, the pleasure only of renewed hearts, to strictly observe, and gratefully regard, it. O Lord, what a sign is every Sabbath of Thy faithfulness and grace may the land have its Sabbath! the dumb animals theirs! and may we enjoy the tranquillity of which this day is the emblem and the pledge, -by believing may we enter into rest! We pray that this Sabbath may witness our conscientious attention to the duties of private religion: may we enter our closet and shut the door. Especially may we examine ourselves if we be in the faith.-Amidst our domestic exer cises, may we be fervent in spirit, and enlarged in heart. Let it be the Sabbath of the Lord in our dwelling. May we manifest the subdued cheerfulness, the unconstrained piety, of a Christian home. Save us from all admixture of trifling pursuit and intercourse with the divine obligations of the season. But as this day is peculiarly devoted to social public worship, may we be glad that it is said unto us, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Remember the Mount Zion in which Thou hast dwelt. For our brethren and companions' sakes, we would now say, Peace be within thee! We bless Thee for our privileges. Persecution does not make us afraid. We are not torn from Thine altar to the axe or to the stake. We suffer not the spoiling of our property and the infringement of our liberty. The rod of the wicked is not on our lot. Our fathers sang their Sabbath-praise in loathsome dungeons, and the prisoners heard their unfaltering strain: or if they could congregate, it was on the moor and in the wood. How have our blessings prevailed above the blessings of our progenitors! Our eyes see our teachers. There is no famine of hearing Thy word. Our candlestick is not removed out of its place. Yet Thou mightest have taken Thy kingdom from us, and given it to a people bringing forth the fruit thereof. prayer Thou mightest have done to our house of as Thou didst to Shiloh: Thou mightest have left it desolate as Jerusalem. But Thou dost abundantly pardon: Thou hast not given us up. Ah! Lord God! wilt Thou make a full end of Thy remnant? If permitted to repair to the holy place of Thy tabernacle, may we keep our foot, and be more ready to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools. May we feel how awful is the place which is the house of God and gate of heaven. Let our thoughts be fixed: let our hearts be right. In the congregation may we bless the Lord: may we wait on Him: may we behold His beauty, and enquire in His temple. Bless the ministry of reconciliation; let it not be a dead letter, but words which are spirit, life, and power. Let it be spoken with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. May they who mourn be comforted. May eyes, which never wept for sin, stream with penitential tears. May prayer be conceived in hearts hitherto strangers to it. While we intercede for others, O visit us with Thy salvation. We pray for our brethren and companions in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ; for the disciples every where; for all the heirs of the same promise. Some are debarred from meeting with us by the impedi |