{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_50916/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_50916","id":"gutenberg_50916","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50916","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Devotional exercises","Devotional literature","Prayers","Spiritual life -- Christianity"],"text":"Transcriber's Note.\n\nApparent typographical errors have been corrected, as have\ninconsistencies in the use of hyphens.\n\nA Table of Contents has been inserted to assist the reader.\n\nItalics are indicated by _underscores_. Small capitals have been\nreplaced by full capitals.\n\n\n\n\n EVENING INCENSE.\n\n BY THE AUTHOR OF\n\n \"MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES,\"\n \"WORDS OF JESUS,\" etc., etc.\n\n PHILADELPHIA:\n H. HOOKER, CHESTNUT & EIGHTH STREETS.\n 1856.\n\n\n KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS,\n 9 Sansom Street.\n\n\n\n\n\"And thou shalt make an ALTAR to burn INCENSE upon:\n\n\"And thou shalt put it ... before the MERCY-SEAT that is over the\ntestimony, where I will meet with thee.\n\n\"And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at EVEN, he shall burn INCENSE upon\nit.\"--Exod. xxx. 1, 6, 8.\n\n\n\n\n  \"The star-lit sky's a temple-arch,\n    The calm, still, evening air\n  Is glorious with the spirit-march\n    Of messengers of prayer.\n\n  \"Are gentle moon, or kindling sun,\n    Or stars unnumbered, given\n  As shrines to burn earth's incense on--\n    The altar-fires of heaven?\n\n  \"Nay! pale away must moon and sun,\n    And star by star decline;\n  O be, Thou ever living One,\n    Thy 'GOLDEN ALTAR'--mine!\"\n\n\n\n\nEVENING INCENSE.\n\n\nThe writer has endeavored in the following pages to comply with\nfrequent requests made to him to prepare a small volume of _Evening_\nPrayers, suitable as a companion to the \"_Morning_ Watches.\"\n\nMay He with whom is \"the residue of the Spirit,\" \"cause His Angel to\nfly swiftly\" and touch us in the time of our Evening Oblation; and may\nall that is amiss in thought and word be lost in the fragrant\nincense-cloud which ascends from the Golden Altar before the Throne!\n\n\n_December, 1855._\n\n\n\n\n Table of Contents\n\n\n Evening                                                Page\n\n      I.  FOR COMMUNION WITH GOD.                          7\n     II.  FOR PARDONING GRACE.                            10\n    III.  FOR RENEWING GRACE.                             13\n     IV.  FOR SANCTIFYING GRACE.                          16\n      V.  FOR RESTRAINING GRACE.                          19\n     VI.  FOR RESTORING GRACE.                            22\n    VII.  FOR QUICKENING GRACE.                           26\n   VIII.  FOR IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS.                      29\n     IX.  FOR PEACE IN BELIEVING.                         32\n      X.  FOR THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION.                     35\n     XI.  FOR WEANEDNESS FROM THE WORLD.                  38\n    XII.  FOR GRATITUDE FOR THE PAST.                     41\n   XIII.  FOR TRUST FOR THE FUTURE.                       44\n    XIV.  FOR KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.                        47\n     XV.  FOR GUIDANCE IN PERPLEXITY.                     50\n    XVI.  FOR VICTORY OVER SIN.                           53\n   XVII.  FOR THE LIFE OF FAITH.                          56\n  XVIII.  FOR THE DAILY DEATH.                            60\n    XIX.  FOR RENUNCIATION OF SELF.                       63\n     XX.  FOR A CHILD-LIKE SPIRIT.                        66\n    XXI.  FOR HEAVENWARD PROGRESS.                        69\n   XXII.  FOR HUMILITY OF HEART.                          72\n  XXIII.  FOR FIRMNESS IN TEMPTATION.                     75\n   XXIV.  FOR COMPOSURE IN TRIAL.                         78\n    XXV.  FOR ACTIVITY IN DUTY.                           81\n   XXVI.  FOR THE SPIRIT'S TEACHING.                      85\n  XXVII.  FOR THE WORLD'S CONVERSION.                     88\n XXVIII.  FOR THE CHURCH'S REVIVAL.                       91\n   XXIX.  FOR SUPPORT IN DEATH.                           94\n    XXX.  FOR PREPARATION FOR JUDGMENT.                   97\n   XXXI.  FOR MEETING IN HEAVEN.                         100\n\n\n\n\nFIRST EVENING.\n\nFOR COMMUNION WITH GOD.\n\n\"Abide with us; for it is towards evening, and the day is far\nspent.\"--Luke xxiv. 29.\n\n\nO God, I desire to approach Thy throne of Grace on the evening of this\nday, beseeching Thee to grant me Thy benediction and blessing. The\nshadows of night have once more gathered around me; may no shadow of\nsin or unbelief darken my soul, or interrupt my communion with Thee.\n\"It is not night if Thou art near.\" Let me enter the inner chamber of\nThy presence, and experience conscious fellowship with Thee my Father\nin Heaven.\n\nDo Thou graciously forgive all the sins of the past day, its sins of\nomission and of commission, of thought, and word, and deed. Hide me\nanew in the clefts of the Smitten Rock. I confidently repose my\neverlasting interests on the finished work and righteousness of a\ntried Redeemer. May I know more and more of the attractive power of\nHis Cross--the adaptation of His character and work to all the wants\nand weaknesses, the sorrows and infirmities, of my tried and suffering\nand tempted nature. May I live more under the sovereign motive of love\nto Him, and experience more the happiness of life spent in His service.\n\nGracious Lord! may a sense of Thy favor penetrate with its leavening\npower every duty in which I engage, lessening every cross and\nsweetening every care. Take what Thou wilt away, but take not Thyself;\nno earthly good can compensate for the loss of Thy friendship.\nExistence would be one vast blank without Thee. Give me to realize the\nblessedness of unfaltering dependence on Thy covenant mercy, knowing\nthat all which befalls me is the pledge and dictate of unerring love,\nand that nothing can come wrong that comes from Thy hand.\n\nThus while my daily walk is hallowed and brightened by Thy presence\nand fellowship, may I be enabled to look calm and undismayed on the\nunknown and chequered future, feeling that even over the gloomy\nportals of the grave, with Thee as my Portion and Heritage, I can\nwrite, \"To die is gain!\" Meanwhile do Thou fit me for every duty,\nprepare me for every trial. If Thou givest me the \"full cup,\" give me\ngrace to carry it with a steady hand. If Thou sendest adversity, let\nme regard it as Thine own gracious discipline, to wean me from earth\nand train me for glory.\n\nMay it be my great ambition, through the help of Thy Blessed Spirit,\nto attain a gradual resemblance to the character and conformity to the\nwill of my adorable Redeemer. May I be clothed with humility. May I be\ndaily becoming more meek and gentle, more contented and thankful, more\nsubmissive and resigned, watching against anything in my heart or\nconduct that I know would be displeasing to Thee, making it my meat\nand my drink to do Thy holy will.\n\nThou unslumbering Shepherd of Israel, vouchsafe Thy guardian care to\nall near and dear to me: shield them from danger: give Thine angels\ncharge over them; sanctify them body, soul, and spirit; seal them unto\nthe day of eternal redemption.\n\nMay we all lie down to sleep this night in Thy fear, and awake in Thy\nfavor, fitted for the duties of a new day. And all I ask is for Jesus'\nsake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nSECOND EVENING.\n\nFOR PARDONING GRACE.\n\n\"For Thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is\ngreat.\"--Ps. xxv. 11.\n\n\nGracious God! do Thou look down upon me this night in Thy great mercy.\nMay I have now the inner sunshine of Thy presence! Ere I retire to\nrest, let me pitch my tent near Thyself, and enjoy the tokens of Thy\nfavor and blessing. Thy loving-kindness has been new to me every\nmorning, and Thy faithfulness every night.\n\nI desire to render Thee the thank-offering of a grateful heart. My\nlife is one wondrous attestation to Thy patience and forbearance. The\nkindness of the best earthly friend has been nothing to Thine. Thou\nmightest long ere now have left me to reap the fruits of my own guilty\nestrangement, withdrawing the grace and Spirit I have so long\nresisted, executing against me the awful doom of the cumberer. But I\nam still spared, a living monument of mercy. Thy ways are not as man's\nways, nor Thy thoughts as man's thoughts.\n\nLord, I would seek anew this night to close with the alone Sovereign\nremedy! Jesus! there is no other prop but Thee to support a sinking\nsoul and a sinking world. There is nothing between me and everlasting\ndestruction but Thy glorious work and finished righteousness. I\nrejoice to think that it is all I need--living or dying, for time or\nfor eternity. O blot out in Thy precious blood my many, many sins.\nNothing in my own hands I bring; I cling simply to Thy cross. Mercy\nand truth have there met together; righteousness and peace have\nembraced each other. Reposing in what Thou has done, and in what Thou\nart still willing to do, I can rejoicingly say, \"Return unto thy rest,\nO my soul.\"\n\nBring me to live more habitually under the constraining influence of\nredeeming love. Purchased at such a price, may I be willing freely to\nconsecrate soul and body to Thy service. Let me feel that the\nbitterest of all trials is the forfeiture of Thy favor and love, and\nthe loftiest joy is the assured possession of Thy gracious friendship.\nMay my spirit be brought into blessed unison with Thine. May I become\nmore gentle, and resigned, and submissive, and unselfish; more\nheavenly-minded; more Saviour-like. May I be led to regard _all_, even\nThy darkest dealings to me here, as needful parts in Thy plan of\nstupendous wisdom. May I rest contented in the assurance that what I\nknow not now I shall know hereafter.\n\nUnite me to all my dear friends, and them to me, in the bonds of\nChristian love. Amid all the fluctuations of this mortal life, may we\never have grace given us to cleave unto the Lord with full purpose of\nheart. Treading the same pilgrim-journey, may we arrive at last at the\nsame pilgrim-home.\n\nI would retire to rest this night with my eye on the opened fountain.\nO give me that peace of Thine which the world knoweth not of, which\nthe world cannot give, and, blessed be God, which the world cannot\ntake away! Abide with me, for it is towards evening, and the day is\nfar spent. Give thine angels charge over me during the unconscious\nhours of sleep, and, when all my evenings and mornings shall be\nfinished, may it be mine to wake up with Thyself in glory everlasting,\nthrough Jesus Christ my only Lord and Saviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHIRD EVENING.\n\nFOR RENEWING GRACE.\n\n\"Renew a right spirit within me.\"--Psalm li. 10.\n\n\nBlessed God, I desire anew to end this night with Thee! Do Thou\nenkindle my soul as with a live coal from off Thy holy altar! Let all\nunhallowed and obtrusive thoughts and cares be set aside, that I may\nenjoy a season of fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus\nChrist.\n\nI rejoice to think that I have such a Friend to repair to--such a\nnever-failing refuge in every season of perplexity and trouble;\nvicissitude is written on all around me, but \"Thou art the same.\"\nThough often, alas! I have changed towards Thee, Thou hast never\nchanged towards me. Thou didst love me from the beginning, and that\nlove remains to this hour, infinite, unalterable!\n\nLord, I am mourning over my many and grievous backslidings, my base\nand unworthy requital of all Thine unmerited kindness. Bring me in\npoverty of Spirit, with deep conscious unworthiness, to say, \"God be\nmerciful to me a sinner.\" Give me a realizing sense of the evil of\nsin, and my own sin in particular. I feel that I have no abiding and\ndepressing consciousness of my guilt. How little of genuine, heartfelt\ncontrition do I experience! How often I _appear_ to be humble and\npenitent when I am _not_! How do my very prayers condemn me; and my\nconfessions of sin need themselves to be confessed!\n\nOh renew me in the spirit of my mind.--May all old things pass away;\nmay all things be made new. Transform me by the indwelling power of\nThy quickening Spirit. May affections now alienated from Thee be\nreclaimed to Thy service. May I seek to be more animated by the\nsovereign motive of love to Him, whose I am, and whom it is alike my\nduty and my privilege to obey. Knowing that this is Thy will\nconcerning me, even my sanctification, may it be my constant ambition\nto be growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour\nJesus Christ.\n\nI have in myself no might, no power, no sufficiency, to do any of\nthese things. My sufficiency is of Thee. Do Thou make Thy grace\nsufficient for me, and perfect strength in weakness. Keep me from all\nevil that would be likely to grieve me. Wean me from all that is\nfleeting and perishable here, and may all Thy dealings towards me\nissue in the confirmed habit of a holy life. If Thou sendest\naffliction, let me regard it as Thine own way of dispensing spiritual\nblessing, and bow with lowly submission to Thy sovereign appointments.\n\nBless all my beloved friends. Keep them as the apple of Thine eye.\nHide them under the shadow of Thy everlasting wings. Sanctify trial to\nall in sorrow. Let the widow and the fatherless put their trust in\nThee. Succor the poor and him that hath no helper. Support the aged.\nSustain the dying. May we all bear one another's burdens and so fulfil\nthe law of Christ.\n\nAs the pillar of cloud has been with me by day, so may the pillar of\nfire be with me this night. Watch over me during the unconscious hours\nof sleep, and when I awake may I be still with Thee. And all I ask is\nfor the sake of Jesus Christ, my only Saviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nFOURTH EVENING.\n\nFOR SANCTIFYING GRACE.\n\n\"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.\"--John xvii. 17.\n\n\nBlessed Lord, do Thou bend Thy pitying eye of love and mercy upon me\nthis evening. Draw Thou near to me as I venture once more on praying\nand on pleading ground. I desire to feel that I am one night nearer\nglory. Oh, enable me to feel, as night after night is silently\nstealing over my head, that my seasons and opportunities of grace are\nfleeting fast away, and that soon the night cometh, wherein I can work\nno more.\n\nAlas! O God, how little have I improved the time that is past! I am a\nwonder to myself, that with all my deep ingratitude and utter vileness\nI am yet permitted to approach Thy footstool: I have sinned against\nlight and love--warning and mercy--grace and privilege. The retrospect\nof life is a retrospect of guilt. I mourn over my manifold\nshortcomings--the alienation of my heart from Thee--the fitfulness of\nmy spiritual frames--the ebbings and flowings in the tide of my love.\nWhen tried by the lofty and unerring standard of Thy law, how are my\nbest actions and duties marred with defilement! How much self-seeking\nand self-glorying--how little animated by the predominating motive of\nlove to Thee, and singleness of eye to Thy service!\n\nBlessed Jesus! I flee anew to the pavilion of Thy love. I have no\nother hope, no other refuge, but in Thy finished work--Thy matchless\natonement--Thy spotless righteousness. There is in Thee an\nall-sufficiency for every want. Finite necessities cannot exhaust\nInfinite fullness. Let me hear Thy voice saying, \"Thy sins, which are\nmany, are all forgiven thee!\" O sprinkle me with Thy blood; sanctify\nme, body, soul, and spirit. Transform me more and more into Thine own\nimage. May I know more and more the happiness of true holiness--that I\nam really blessed in seeking to walk so as to please God. May the\npower of grace wax stronger and stronger, and the power of sin wax\nweaker and weaker. May trials and crosses become light and easy to me\nwhen borne in a spirit of meek, unrepining submission to the Divine\nwill. May this quiet every doubt and misgiving, \"Your heavenly Father\nknoweth that ye have need of all these things.\" Lord, may every\nprovidential dealing prove a heart-searcher, testing the reality of my\nlove to Thee, and my meetness and preparedness for Thy heavenly\nkingdom.\n\nExtend, Lord, Thy cause and Gospel everywhere. Strengthen Thy\nmissionary and ministering servants. May they ever hear the sound of\ntheir Master's footsteps behind them. May thy churches walk in the\nfear of God and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.\n\nBless all my beloved friends wherever they are; do Thou be their\nAlmighty Protector and Guide. Let the angel come at this the time of\nevening incense, touching all our hearts, and granting us an answer to\nour several petitions. Let us rise to-morrow refreshed for Thy\nservice; and fitted for whatsoever in Thy good providence we may be\ncalled either to do or to suffer. Hear me, gracious God, for the sake\nof Him whom Thou hearest always. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nFIFTH EVENING.\n\nFOR RESTRAINING GRACE.\n\n\"Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins.\"--Psalm xix. 13.\n\n\nBlessed God, Thou hast in Thy mercy permitted me to see the close of\nanother day. With what unwearying watchfulness has Thou been\ncompassing my path!--defending me from danger, guarding me from\ntemptation, hedging up my way with thorns, \"preventing me with the\nblessings of Thy goodness!\" There is no friend in the world I have\nlike Thee; none so able, none so willing to be my friend. If I have\nbeen successful in resisting sin, it is all Thy blessed grace which\nhas enabled me. From how many slippery places has Thou rescued me!\nWhen often on the brink of the precipice, ready to fall, Thy\ninterposing hand has saved me from inevitable destruction. When\nthrough my own weakness and unwatchfulness I must now have been\nwandering in hopeless alienation from Thee, Thou hast mercifully not\nsuffered the bruised reed to be broken, nor the smoking flax to be\nquenched.\n\nLord, my earnest prayer is that Thy grace may still be made sufficient\nfor me. May no spiritual foe be allowed to invade my peace or endanger\nmy safety. Let Thy love be restored to its rightful ascendancy in my\naffections. May no rival be allowed to usurp its place. May I ever\nexercise a holy jealousy over this truant, wandering, deceitful heart;\nseeking day by day to subdue unmortified sin.\n\nMay all Thy dispensations issue in my sanctification. Let me seek no\nunruffled path; may the cross be willingly carried. Thou lovest me too\nwell to give me my own way. Whatever Thy will and Thy dealings may be,\nbe it mine cheerfully and rejoicingly to acquiesce in them, knowing\nthem to be the dictate of infinite wisdom and unchanging love. May all\nmy worldly business and engagements be interfused and hallowed with\nthe blessed sense and assurance of Thy favor! Walking all the day in\nthe light of Thy countenance, I must be safe!\n\nGod of Bethel--God of all the families of the earth, vouchsafe Thy\nrichest benediction on all near and dear to me. Give thine angels\ncharge over them; let their names be written among the living in\nJerusalem; and oh, may we all seek in our several spheres to glorify\nThee on earth, either by active duty or by patient endurance;\nexemplifying in our daily walk the meek and lowly, the unselfish and\nself-denying, spirit of Him, who hath left us an example that we\nshould follow His steps.\n\nHasten the coming of Thy Son's kingdom. Arise, O God, and plead Thine\nown cause. \"Save Thy people, bless Thine inheritance, feed them also\nand lift them up for ever.\"\n\nThe curtain of night is again drawn around me. If it be Thy will,\nspare me to see the light and enjoy the comforts of a new day; may I\nseek anew to enjoy them in Thee; may every blessing be doubly sweet to\nme, bearing the impress of Thy love in Jesus. Guide me _in_ life,\n_through_ death, _into_ glory, for the sake of Him in whom is all my\nhope, and to whom, with Thee the Father, and Thee, ever-blessed\nSpirit, one God, be ascribed all blessing and honor and glory and\npraise, world without end. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nSIXTH EVENING.\n\nFOR RESTORING GRACE.\n\n\"Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation.\"--Ps. li. 12.\n\n\nBlessed God, I rejoice to know that the gates of prayer are ever\nopen;--that for the sake of Jesus Christ, my adorable Redeemer, Thou\nart waiting to be gracious, not willing that any should perish.\n\nCome in the plenitude of Thy love this evening, that I may feel it to\nbe good for me to draw near to God! Scatter my darkness, Thou better\nSun, with the brightness of Thy rising. Give me filial confidence in\napproaching the mercy-seat, rejoicing in the mightiest of all Beings\nas my Father and Friend.\n\nBlessed Jesus! I would exercise a simple confidence and trust in Thy\nfinished work, I would seek to wash anew in the opened fountain of Thy\nblood, to repose anew in the faithful saying which never can cease, to\nthe sin-stricken, sin-burdened soul, to be worthy of all acceptation,\nthat Thou didst come into the world to save the chief of sinners.\n\nI have to mourn, O Lord, my constant proneness to depart from\nThee--the instability of my best purposes of obedience. Unsupported by\nThy grace I must fall. There is nothing, O Thou great Intercessor\nwithin the veil, but Thine omnipotent pleadings between me and\nirretrievable ruin. But Thou hast prayed, and art even now praying,\nfor me that my faith fail not. Oh if I am still prone to start aside,\nlike a deceitful bow, do Thou bring me back again! Reclaim my truant\nheart from its wanderings. I would cast myself with simple dependence\non Thy grace for the future. This is sufficient for all wants and\nequal to all exigencies. Thine everlasting arms are lower than my\ndeepest necessities. Adorable Saviour, I may well cast my every care\non Thee, for these cares Thou makest Thine own. Thou hast a heart to\nfeel for those who have often no heart to feel for themselves. Oh let\nme ever seek to hear Thy directing voice and to hear no other.\n\nDo Thou carry on within me Thine own work in thine own way. Thou,\nGreat Shepherd of Israel, canst not lead me wrong. I delight to trace\nThy guiding love in the past, and I may well trust Thee still; going\nup through the wilderness may I lean on Thine arm; when I come to die\nmay the gloom of the dark valley be lighted with the rays of Thy love,\nand may I hear Thy voice whispering in gentle accents, \"Fear not, for\nI am with thee.\" Be gracious to all my beloved friends. Train them\nalso, by Thy good Spirit, for eternity. Fit them for every duty. Arm\nthem against every temptation. Dispose them to fear Thy glorious name,\nand to live from day to day under the powers and influences of a world\nto come. Compassionate the afflicted; comfort the bereaved; support\nthe dying.\n\nLord, take the charge of me during the silent watches of another\nnight. May I rise on the morrow to renew my work and warfare on earth,\nlooking forward to the time when the twilight of this world shall melt\ninto everlasting day, and when nothing shall evermore mar or interrupt\nthe blessedness of endless communion with Thee: through Jesus Christ,\nmy only Lord and Saviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nSEVENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR QUICKENING GRACE.\n\n\"Quicken me after Thy loving kindness, so shall I keep the testimony\nof Thy mouth.\"--Psalm cxix. 88.\n\n\nO God, on this the close of another day, I desire to approach the\nfootstool of Thy throne. Glory be to Thy holy name that I can enjoy\nfreedom of access into Thy presence, and with the confidence of a\nchild unburden and unbosom to Thee all my wants and sins, my sorrows\nand infirmities, my perplexities and cares.\n\nLord, how unworthy I am of the least of all Thy mercies! What\nrighteous cause hast Thou to cut me down as a cumberer of the ground.\nHow cold my love, how unfrequent my prayers! How full my heart of\npride and vain-glory, self and sin! How little have I habitually\nrealized Thy nearness and sought Thy favor as my chief good! There is\nenough of coldness and formality in my best approaches to Thy\nfootstool to lead Thee in Thy wrath to spurn me forever away, and to\nmingle my blood with my sacrifices!\n\nI cast myself as a worthless unworthy sinner at the feet of Jesus. I\nneed daily, hourly washing at that fountain which He has opened for\nsin and for uncleanness. Wash me, gracious Lord, fully, freely, and\nforever. Let me know the blessedness of \"no condemnation.\" Deepen my\ncontrition on account of my sin. I am apt to palliate its enormity, to\ninvent vain excuses for its commission, to hide its heinousness from\nmyself, and to hide it from Thee. Let me see all sin, and my own sin\nin particular, in the light of Calvary's cross. May I hate it with a\nperfect hatred, and resolve in Thy grace that it henceforth have no\ndominion over me. Oh quicken me by the indwelling of Thy blessed\nSpirit. May I seek to be progressing in the divine life. May my\npathway heavenward be brightened by a lively sense of reconciliation\nthrough the blood of the everlasting covenant.\n\nLet me lean on Thy heavenly arm, seeking Thy glory with singleness of\neye. May it be my greatest grief to give Thee pain, my greatest joy\nand happiness to do Thy will. Keep me from all hard thoughts and\nunrighteous surmises regarding Thy dealings. May I see them all as\ndesigned to quicken my steps in the heavenly way, to bring me nearer\nThyself, and to impart an increasing meetness for glory. Let Thy\nkingdom come, let Thy blessed Gospel triumph over the pride and\nsuperstition and will-worship of man. Put an end to war and discord,\nand may all the ends of the earth see Thy salvation. Bless Thy\nministering servants; may they be valiant for the truth, and have no\nfear but the fear of God.\n\nBe the Guide and Guardian of all whom I love. Preserve their bodies\nfrom danger and their souls from sin. Watch over them and me this\nnight; be about our bed as Thou hast been about our path. Night after\nnight as I retire to rest may I think of the deeper darkness of the\nnight of death, which must, sooner or later encompass me. Reposing in\nthe merits of my gracious Redeemer, may I be enabled to look _beyond_\ndeath and the grave, to that morning without clouds, when I shall\nawake in His likeness, and be ushered into the full vision and\nfruition of Thee my God; and all that I ask or hope for is for His\nsake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nEIGHTH EVENING.\n\nFOR IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS.\n\n\"Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto\nall and upon all them that believe.\"--Rom. iii. 22.\n\n\nAlmighty God, Father of all mercies, I desire to draw near into Thy\nsacred presence on this the evening of another day, under a deep sense\nof my own great unworthiness. What am I, guilty, sinful, polluted,\nthat I should be permitted to take Thy name into my lips, or so much\nas lift up my eyes to the place where Thou in glory dwellest!\n\nI desire to renounce all dependence on myself. I come with all the\ngreat burden of my great guilt to a great Saviour. I seek to bring the\nunrighteousness of an unworthy creature to the infinite righteousness\nand everlasting faithfulness of a tried Redeemer. Where would I have\nbeen, Blessed Jesus! this night, _but for Thee_! All I am, and all I\nhave, I owe to Thy free, sovereign, unmerited grace. All my temporal\nmercies are sweetened to me as flowing from Thy cross, and bearing on\nthem the image and superscription of Thy love. And for every spiritual\nblessing I enjoy, and every spiritual hope I entertain, I desire\ndoubly to adore thee, Thou Great Author and Finisher of my faith! Whom\nhave I in heaven but Thee, and there is none in all the earth I desire\nbesides Thee. Thou alone canst fill up the aching voids of my heart.\nIn vain can I look to a transient world, or to the perishable\ncreature, for solid peace and permanent enjoyment. All my well-springs\nare in Thyself; with Thee for my portion I am independent of every\nother.\n\nI desire this night to obtain a lively and humbling view of my own\nspiritual poverty and deep creature destitution, that I may rejoice in\nthe fullness and all-sufficiency of that righteousness which is unto\nall and upon all them that believe. In that righteousness I would seek\nto live, and in that righteousness I would seek to die. There is\nnothing else between me and everlasting ruin. But for Thee, Thou great\nCovenant-Angel standing in the breach, the fire of God would break\nforth and mingle my blood with this my evening sacrifice! But I \"will\ngreatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for He\nhath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me\nwith a robe of righteousness.\" I take Thee, O adorable Saviour, as\nmine only, mine wholly; mine for all wants and all exigencies. I\nrejoice in the inexhaustible riches treasured up in Thee--that Thy\nfullness is adequate to supply all my present necessities; and out of\nthat fullness I may still continue receiving, and that for ever and\never!\n\nLord, look in great kindness on all whom I love. Pity a perishing\nworld. Arrest the careless; reclaim the wandering; strengthen the\nfeeble. Hasten Thy Son's coming and kingdom. How long shall the\nwicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? Save Thy people; bless\nThine inheritance; feed them also, and lift them up for ever.\n\nLet the curtain of Thy protecting providence be drawn around me this\nnight. Let me fall asleep at peace with Thee, ready, if need be, to\nawake up in glory. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nNINTH EVENING.\n\nFOR PEACE IN BELIEVING.\n\n\"Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our\nLord Jesus Christ.\"--Rom. v. 1.\n\n\nGracious God, I would seek to end another day with Thee; I would\ndesire to look up to Thee through Jesus Christ, Thy well-beloved Son,\nand to be made partaker of that peace which passeth all understanding.\nThere is no other refuge for the sin-stricken, woe-worn spirit. In\nvain amid other portions and meaner joys can I say to my soul \"peace,\npeace.\" There is no peace! But reposing, blessed Saviour, on Thy\nfinished work and everlasting righteousness, I have a peace which the\nworld knows not of, and which enables me to rise superior to all the\nvicissitudes and changes of this changing life.\n\nI desire to remember with a grateful heart that this peace has been\npurchased for me by the blood of the cross--that it is made as sure as\neverlasting power and wisdom and faithfulness can make it. O Thou\ngreat Prince, who hast power with God and dost prevail, I would lift\nthe undivided eye of faith to Thy bleeding sacrifice! Do Thou dispel\nevery disquieting fear with the thought that Thou hast done all, and\nsuffered all, and procured all for me. Being justified by faith, I\nhave peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. I rejoice in the\nplenitude of Thy promises, that they are all yea and amen to them that\nbelieve. Man's word may fail, man's faithfulness may falter, but \"the\nword of the Lord is tried,\" Thy faithfulness is unto all generations!\n\nO God, enable me to rejoice more and more in Thee as my everlasting\nportion. May I know nothing to compare with the enjoyment of Thy\nfavor. Other props may be removed, other refuges may prove refuges of\nlies, but Thou art the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.\n\nGive me grace to be active in Thy service while it is called to-day.\nOpportunities are fleeting. The night cometh wherein none of us can\nwork. May simple believing be followed by the earnest cultivation of\nevery Christian virtue, and by progressive advancement in the heavenly\nlife. May I faithfully employ the talents Thou hast intrusted to me,\nand seek never to be weary in well doing. Preserve me from every\nunholy temper and unchristian deed. May I be gentle and meek, patient\nand forgiving, kind and benevolent, living in charity towards all men.\n\nOn all my beloved friends I supplicate Thy richest blessing. Protect\nthem with Thy favor as with a shield. Sanctify them, body, soul, and\nspirit. Seal them unto the day of eternal redemption.\n\nBless all poor afflicted ones. Let them receive largely out of the\nwells of Thine own everlasting consolation. Let them see Thy sovereign\nhand alone in their trials, and say with unrepining submission, \"The\nLord's will be done!\"\n\nLord, take the charge of me through the silent watches of the night.\nMay I fall asleep listening to the gracious benediction, \"Peace be\nunto you.\" And when the gates of the morning are opened, may it be to\nhear anew Thy voice saying, \"My presence will go with you.\" Hear,\naccept, and answer me, for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION.\n\n\"Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,\nFather.\"--Rom. viii. 15.\n\n\nBlessed Lord! I desire to draw near this night with holy boldness to\nthe footstool of Thy throne, rejoicing that I can look up to Thee as\nmy Father in heaven. \"Behold what manner of love is this the Father\nhath bestowed on me, that I should be called a child of God.\" Thou\nmightest have righteously left me orphaned, friendless, portionless\nfor ever. But in the midst of wrath Thou hast remembered mercy: the\nkindness of no earthly parent, O God, could equal thine. Thou hast\nborne with all my obstinacy, all my perverseness, and waywardness, and\ningratitude. I am at this hour the monument of a love as wondrous as\nit is undeserved.\n\nOh teach me to cultivate more and more a spirit of child-like\nobedience to Thee; to cherish a holy fear of offending so kind and\nforgiving and beneficent a Father. Whilst Thou art strewing my\nwilderness path with unmerited blessings, may I be enabled to rise\nabove every earthly gift and mercy to the better inheritance I have in\nThee, the bountiful Bestower of all! Let me feel every created\nblessing to be doubly sweet, as emanating from a Father's hand, and\nbeing a proof and pledge of a Father's love. Let the hour of prayer be\ndoubly hallowed by the thought that I am permitted to haunt a Father's\npresence, and pour my wants into a Father's ear. Let the season of\nsorrow be sweetened by the thought that the rod is in a Father's hand,\nand that the voice, though apparently rough, is the tender whispering\nof parental love.\n\nBlessed Jesus! I desire to remember that it is Thou and Thou only who\nhast not left me \"comfortless.\" It is Thou who hast devised and\ncompleted a way by which \"Thy banished\" may not be \"expelled\" from a\nFather's presence. Thou hast opened a door of welcome to the chief of\nsinners. It is Thy blessed voice and Thy glorious work which utter the\ngracious declaration, \"In my Father's house there are many mansions.\"\nOh let me lean with a more simple and entire dependence on Thee; let\nme live from day to day with an unfaltering trust in Thy mercy. May\nevery new evening, as it finds me laying the incense-offering of\ngratitude and love on Thine altar, find me also a stage nearer my\nFather's house, nearer _home_, and nearer _Thee_.\n\nTake all my beloved friends under Thy shadowing wings this night. The\ndarkness can not screen them from Thee; the curtains of night can not\nexclude Thy kind and watchful eye. Guide, guard, protect them, and\nbring them all at last to Thy heavenly kingdom.\n\nBless Thy Church everywhere; lengthen her cords and strengthen her\nstakes. Be a wall of fire around Thy Zion and the glory in the midst\nthereof. Clothe her priests with salvation, let her saints and people\nshout aloud for joy.\n\nBless those on whom Thou hast laid Thine afflicting hand. May they\ntake refuge in the arms that are chastising them, and be enabled to\nsay in unmurmuring submission, \"The Lord's will be done.\" Hear me,\ngracious Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, my blessed Lord and\nSaviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nELEVENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR WEANEDNESS FROM THE WORLD.\n\n\"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.\"--John\nxvii. 16.\n\n\nO God, I desire to come into Thy gracious presence this night,\nbeseeching Thee to bless me. Let my prayer come before Thee as\nincense. May the incense-offering of gratitude and thanksgiving ascend\nfrom a grateful heart. How manifold are the proofs I have to recount\nof kindness on thy part! how deep the ingratitude I have to mourn on\nmy own! My sins have reached unto the clouds; they are more in number\nthan the sand of the sea.\n\nThou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. I cannot evade Thy\nrighteous scrutiny; all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him\nwith whom I have to do! Lord, I have to lament the proneness of this\nevil heart of unbelief ever to depart away from Thee, the living God.\nI mourn the debasing influence of earthly things; the fascinating\npower of a present evil world. How inclined to conform to its evil\nmaxims and unholy practices! How often am I found ranged among those\nwho \"mind earthly things;\" my soul cleaving to the dust, instead of\nsoaring upwards to Thyself, my alone satisfying portion!\n\nLord, it is my earnest prayer that Thou wouldst wean me from the\nworld. Keep me from over-anxiety about the things that are seen--from\nbeing over-careful and troubled about earth's \"many things,\" to the\nexclusion of the one thing needful! Break every alluring worldly\nspell; disenchant things temporal of their false and delusive charm;\ndisengage me by all the salutary discipline of Thy providence from\nwhat is fleeting, uncertain, transient, perishable; and unite me to\nthe things which cannot be shaken, but which remain forever! May my\ncitizenship be more in heaven; imbibing more of the pilgrim spirit,\nmay I declare plainly that I seek a better country.\n\nMay the sins of the past day be forgiven; may the blood of sprinkling\nwash their guilt away. May I be driven nearer and closer to Him who is\nthe true refuge and portion, and Saviour of His people. I rejoice to\nthink that He has a balm for every wound, a comfort for every bosom, a\nsolace for every tear. May it be mine to go up through the wilderness\nleaning on His arm. May Thy Holy Spirit carry on His own work of\nsanctification within me. May He enlighten, quicken, comfort,\nstrengthen me; and mould me in gradual conformity to Thy divine will.\n\nBless all connected with me, by whatever tie. When earth's separations\nare at an end, do Thou take me and all dear to me to the enjoyment of\nThy presence and love in Thine own everlasting kingdom. Let the pillar\nof Thy presence be over us this night. Guard me during sleep's\nunconscious hours. Let no unquiet dreams disturb my repose; may I\ncompose myself to rest under the sweet assurance that Thou the Lord\nsustainest me; and when I awake, may I be still with Thee, through\nJesus Christ, my only Lord and Saviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWELFTH EVENING.\n\nFOR GRATITUDE FOR THE PAST.\n\n\"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.\"--Psalm\nciii. 2.\n\n\nO God Almighty, do Thou draw near to me at this time in Thy great\nmercy, and accept of this my Evening Sacrifice! I bless Thee for all\nthat gladdens my earthly lot, for food and raiment, for friends and\nhome, for health of body and soundness of mind. Lord, I delight to\ntrace the wondrous way by which Thou hast hitherto led me! Thou hast\ncompassed my path and my lying down. Thou hast supplied my\never-recurring necessities. My wants have been infinite, but infinite\ntoo has been the gracious supply. With a grateful heart I would set up\nmy Ebenezer, saying, \"Hitherto hath the Lord helped me.\" And\nremembering Thy faithfulness in the past, I would confidently trust\nThee for the future.\n\nMay I thankfully employ the manifold gifts of Thy bounty. Impress upon\nme the feeling that I am but a steward, responsible to Thee for all I\npossess. Let me not selfishly appropriate the varied means of\nusefulness thou hast put within my power, but willingly employ these\nin Thy service for the good of others. When Thou comest to demand a\nreckoning, may I be able to give a faithful account of my stewardship,\npaying Thee Thine own with usury.\n\nLord, while I bless Thee for the other proofs and tokens of Thy love,\nfar above all would I bless Thee for _Jesus_. Where would I have been\nthis night but for _Him_? How dreary would have been the past! How\ndismal and hopeless the future! Thanks, eternal Thanks be unto God for\nHis unspeakable gift! Let me feel, more than I _have_ done, the\nexceeding riches of Thy grace in Thy kindness toward me through Christ\nJesus. Let all Thy dealings only serve to confirm my love to Him, and\nto lead me to cleave to Him with fuller purpose of heart. May he have\nmy undivided homage. Let no earthly gift or blessing supplant the\nGiver, but may every rill of creative bliss be doubly sweet to me as\nflowing from His atoning sacrifice.\n\nI rejoice in the midst of trial and perplexity to think of Thee, Thou\ntried and suffering _One_. I rejoice that amid my sorrows I can\nremember _Thine_, that amid my very tears, I can remember _Jesus\nwept_. Thou canst enter into all the peculiarities of Thy people's\ncase, for Thou wert in \"_all_ points tempted.\" Let me feel, even amid\nthe changes of life, that what I am apt to call vicissitudes, are the\nsovereign decrees and allotments of Thine infinite wisdom; and what I\ncannot comprehend now, be it mine to wait the disclosures of that\nblessed morning when, standing at the luminous portals of Heaven, I\nshall joyfully acknowledge that the Lord hath done all things well.\n\nBless my beloved friends; may they be growing in thy fear and favor;\nmay they all at last, as sheaves in thy heavenly garner, be found unto\npraise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.\n\nI commend myself, gracious God, to Thy care; let me retire to rest\nthis night in the blessed consciousness of Thy favor; and if spared to\nsee the light of a new day, fit me for whatsoever Thou hast in store\nfor me. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHIRTEENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR TRUST FOR THE FUTURE.\n\n\"I will trust, and be not afraid.\"--Isaiah xii. 2.\n\n\nO God, Thou makest the outgoings of the evening and the morning to\nrejoice over me. I thank Thee for Thy sparing mercy during the past\nday. While multitudes of my fellow-men have been called away into an\neternal world, I am still preserved in the land of the living, and in\nthe place of hope. It is of Thy compassions alone that I am not\nconsumed.\n\nMy way Zionward may well be studded with Ebenezers, testifying \"the\nLord hath helped me.\" I may well set to my seal that God is true. The\npillar of Thy presence has guided me through many a perplexing path.\nThy love has smiled through many a threatening cloud. Thy restraining\ngrace has arrested me in many a slippery way; when \"my soul was among\nlions,\" how often has the Lord \"sent his angel\" to rescue me and shut\nthe lions' mouths. I am this night a marvel and miracle of Thy\npatience, and forbearance, and mercy.\n\nLord, I joyfully take all these past kindnesses as tokens for the\nfuture. To Thee I would confidingly commit the unknown morrow, and\ncleave to Thy guiding arm with full purpose of heart. The lot is\nthrown into the lap, but the whole disposing of it is of the Lord; O,\nbe it my joy and privilege, thus reposing in Thy covenant\nfaithfulness, to say, \"Undertake Thou for me.\" Looking forward to that\ntime when all Thy inscrutable dealings will be unfolded, when inner\nmeanings and purposes now undiscerned by the eye of sense will be\nbrought to light, and all discovered to be full of infinite love.\n\nKeep me from dishonoring Thee by the workings of unbelief; I am prone\nto trust my own wisdom, O give me teachableness of spirit and\nsimplicity of faith, waiting patiently on Thee; leaving all that\nconcerns me and mine to Thy better direction.\n\nBlessed Jesus! I would seek to cleave closer and closer to Thy cross.\nI have no trust but in Thy finished work. Other refuges may fail, but\nI am as secure in Thee as everlasting love and wisdom and power can\nmake me. O cleanse every guilty stain away in thy most precious blood.\nLet me live day by day at the opened fountain, and feel that I _only_\n\"live\" while _there_. Thus simply relying on Thy justifying grace, may\nI seek to walk in Thy footsteps and to imbibe Thy spirit. May I follow\nThee, O Lamb of God, whithersoever Thou seest meet to lead me. May I\nnever feel as if I would wish one jot or tittle regarding me altered,\nwhen the reins of empire are in Thy hands.\n\nTake my beloved friends under Thy special care. Watch over them,\nprovide for them, decide for them. In all their ways may they\nacknowledge Thee, and in all things seek Thy honor and glory.\n\nPity the afflicted. Stay Thy rough wind in the day of Thy east wind.\nLet them rejoice that every bitter drop in the cup of life is\nappointed by Thee. May they submissively drink it, saying, \"Thy will\nbe done!\"\n\nHear, Lord, the voice of my supplications, when Thou hearest, forgive,\nand grant me an answer in peace, seeing all that I ask is in the name\nand for the sake of Jesus Christ, my only Saviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nFOURTEENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.\n\n\"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the\nfellowship of His sufferings.\"--Phil. iii. 10.\n\n\nAlmighty God, do Thou draw near to me this night in Thy great mercy.\nWhat am I, that infinite unworthiness and nothingness should be\npermitted to stand in the presence of infinite purity, majesty, and\nglory? Lord, I dare not have ventured to bow at thy footstool in my\nown merits. I am poor and wretched, and miserable, and blind, and\nnaked. Enter not in judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight no\nflesh living can be justified.\n\nBut, adored be Thy name, I have an all-sufficient ground of confidence\nwherewith to approach Thee. I bless Thee, that by the doing and dying\nof Jesus, Thou hast opened up a way of reconciliation to the chief of\nsinners. Oh, enable me to know more fully the adaptation of His person\nand work to all the necessities and exigencies of my character and\ncircumstances. Let me know him in His infinite Godhead, as \"mighty to\nsave;\" in His spotless humanity, as mighty to compassionate. Let me\nknow Him in all His offices, as my Prophet, my Priest, my King; my\nKinsman-Redeemer within the veil, my Refuge in trouble, my Guide in\nperplexity, my Support in death, my Portion through eternity. I\nrejoice, blessed Jesus, at the hidden springs of life resident in\nThee! Thou art suited to all the varied wants and circumstances, and\ntrials of Thy people--for every moment of need, for every diversity of\nsituation. I can mourn no real blank, if I have Thy presence and\nblessing.\n\nO Thou, better than the best of earthly friends, who, though enthroned\namid the hosannas of angels, hast still Thy human sympathy unaltered\nand unchanged, draw near to me this night, and breathe upon me, and\nsay, \"Peace be unto thee.\" Let me know the melting energy of Thy love,\nand the attractive power of Thy cross. May I keep the unwavering eye\nof faith steadily directed to Thy all-glorious sacrifice. Be Thou the\nhabitual object of my contemplation, the source of holiest joy, the\nanimating principle of obedience. May all creature love be\nsubordinated to Thine. May my temper, my walk, my conversation, be\nregulated in accordance with Thy blessed will and holy example. May\nthis be the lofty aim and ambition of life, to act so as to please\nJesus.\n\nBless my dear friends, may they too be led to count all but loss for\nthe excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus their Lord, whom to\nknow is life eternal. Pity the careless; reclaim the backsliding;\ncomfort the sorrowful; sustain the dying. May the Lord arise and have\nmercy on Zion; may He show that the time to favor her, yea, the set\ntime, is come!\n\nEre I lay my head on my nightly pillow, I would lay anew my guilt on\nthe head of the Divine Surety; may I fall asleep under the blessed\nsense of sin forgiven, and look forward to that blessed day when\nearth's night-shadows shall have vanished forever, and when I shall be\nenabled more fully \"to know the love of Christ which passeth\nknowledge.\" And all I ask or hope for is for His sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nFIFTEENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR GUIDANCE IN PERPLEXITY.\n\n\"Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul\nunto Thee.\"--Psalm cxliii. 8.\n\n\nO God, Thy favor is life, Thy loving-kindness is better than life. Thy\nmercies have been new to me every morning, and Thy faithfulness every\nnight. Thou hast watched over me from the earliest years of infancy\nwith more than a Father's care. The kindness of the kindest on earth\nhas been coldness itself when compared with Thine. I rejoice that I\ncan thus trace in a wondrous past the visible footsteps of Thy love,\nand fearlessly trust and repose in Thee for the future.\n\nThou art a rich provider. None so able, none so willing to guide me in\nevery perplexity, to extricate me from every difficulty, and to\nbefriend me amid the fitful changes of life. What a safe anchorage is\nthis amid the world's restless surges of vicissitude, \"The Lord\nreigneth!\" Do Thou enable me wholly to follow the Lord my God; to\nfollow Thee not only in smooth places, but even when the path is rough\nand the way thorny. May I confide in the wisdom of all Thine\nallotments. I rejoice that all the changes Thou orderest for Thy\ncovenant people are changes for the _better_, and not for the _worse_.\n\nO blessed Jesus! Thou who art the true pillar of cloud by day, and of\nfire by night, do Thou precede me ever in all my wilderness\nwanderings. May I encamp only where Thou leadest me. May I strike my\ntent only when Thou speakest that I \"go forward.\" Let me experience\nthe conscious happiness of knowing no will but Thine, and of being\nsolicitous in all things to follow the guiding voice and footsteps of\nthe Great Shepherd of the flock. If there be aught in Thy providence\nperplexing me now, I would say in child-like simplicity, \"I am\noppressed, undertake Thou for me!\" \"My heart is overwhelmed, lead me\nto the Rock that is higher than I.\" Hide me in the crevices of that\nsmitten Rock; let me know the safety and joy of being shielded\n_there_, until earth's calamities be overpast.\n\nGraciously forgive all the sins of this past day--the sins of thought,\nword and deed; all my selfishness and uncharitableness; all my pride\nand vain-glory; all my censoriousness and inconsideration of the\nwishes and feelings of others. Blessed Jesus! let me follow more\nclosely Thy holy footsteps, and drink more deeply of Thy heavenly\nspirit.\n\nBless all in sorrow, sanctify to them their trials, may they see and\nown a \"need be\" in them all. Prepare the dying for death, and spare\nuseful lives.\n\nTake all belonging to me this night under the shield of Thy protecting\nprovidence, let them ever commit their way onto Thee, and do Thou\nbring it to pass. Hold up their goings in Thy word, that their\nfootsteps may not stumble.\n\nWatch over me during the unconscious hours of sleep; and when all my\ndays and nights on earth are finished, may it be mine to enjoy Thy\npresence in a cloudless, nightless Heaven; through Jesus Christ, my\nblessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nSIXTEENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR VICTORY OVER SIN.\n\n\"Sin shall not have dominion over you.\"--Rom. vi. 14.\n\n\nO God, Thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Evil cannot\ndwell with Thee, fools cannot stand in Thy presence. Thou hast\nsolemnly declared, \"Thou canst by no means clear the guilty,\" and that\n\"though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not escape unpunished.\"\n\nLord, I rejoice that I can draw near to Thee in the name of Him by\nwhom the guilty _have_ been cleared; and through whom it is that a\nholy and righteous and sin-hating God can yet be holy and just, in the\nvery act of justifying the ungodly.\n\nI desire to adore Thee for all Thy creative and providential goodness.\nThou hast loaded me with Thy benefits. The past is paved with love. I\nsee in the retrospect of life nothing but amazing, unmerited kindness,\nmercy upon mercy! Amid manifold changes there has been no change in\n_Thee_, no altered looks, no fainting or weariness or estrangement.\nAmid the wanderings of my own fitful spirit I can write over every\nremembrance of the past, _But_ \"_Thou_ art the same!\"\n\nI desire with penitence of soul to mourn my own ingratitude and sin,\nthe desperate wickedness and deceitfulness of my own evil heart, the\npower of corruption, the mastery of self, the alienation of my\naffections from Thee their rightful Sovereign and Lord. What an easy\nprey have I often fallen in the hour of temptation--by thought and\nword and deed dishonoring Thy name and basely requiting Thy love!\nFather, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee, and am no more\nworthy to be called Thy child!\n\nGive me genuine contrition for the past, inspire me with new purposes\nof obedience for the future. Without Thy favor and reconciliation, in\npeace I cannot live, in peace I dare not die! My cry would be, \"More\ngrace, more grace!\" Let me be gaining every day fresh victories over\nsin; may my soul be daily nurtured by the influence of heaven-born\nprinciples. May I know the expulsive power of the new implanted\naffection of love to Thee. Dethrone the world. Subjugate the power of\nsin. Give me greater tenderness of conscience; may I jealously guard\nevery avenue to temptation, and be ready ever with the reply to the\nseductions of the tempter, \"How can I do this great wickedness and sin\nagainst God?\"\n\nLet me be willing to forego anything rather than forsake Thy ways. Be\nit my habitual purpose and desire to cleave unto Thee the Lord with\nfull purpose of heart. Let me hallow all life's duties and engagements\nwith Thy favor, looking forward to that time when _my_ will and\n_Thine_, blessed God! shall be one, and when there shall be no more\nsin to interrupt the interchange of love and devotedness.\n\nBless all my dear friends; may the blessing of Jacob's God, the God of\nall the families of the earth, rest upon them. Give them all needful\ntemporal blessings. Fill their souls with peace and joy in believing.\nMay they and I look forward with joyful anticipation to that \"morning\nwithout clouds,\" which knows no change nor vicissitude, when there\nshall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, because there will\nbe no more sin; and all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nSEVENTEENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR THE LIFE OF FAITH.\n\n\"The life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of\nGod, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.\"--Gal. ii. 20.\n\n\nO God, I desire to draw near unto Thy blessed presence on this the\nevening of another day, adoring Thee for all the loving-kindness Thou\nart continually making to pass before me. May I ever be enabled to\nlook up to Thee as the Author and Bestower of all my mercies. May no\ncreated good ever be suffered to dispossess Thee of my affections. May\nall that I enjoy, alike temporal and spiritual, be traced to Thee, the\nFountain of all happiness. May prosperity be hallowed by receiving it\nas a pledge of Thy favor, and may trial lose its bitterness by the\nconsciousness that every thorn in my path is permitted by Thee, and\nevery bitter drop in the cup appointed by Thee.\n\nMay I thus seek, O God, from day to day, to live a life of simple\nfaith and dependence on Thy grace; with confiding love may I commit my\nevery care and want and perplexity to Thy better direction, feeling\nsweetly assured that Thou wilt guide me by a _right_ way to the city\nof habitation.\n\nAbove all would I seek a renewed interest in those covenant blessings\nwhich Christ died to purchase and which He is exalted to bestow. All\nmy hope is in Him; weak, helpless, perishing, I flee to Him, as the\nhelp and hope and portion of all who seek Him. Hide me, O blessed\nJesus, in Thy wounded side. I would overcome alone through the blood\nof the Lamb. Wash me thoroughly in Thy precious blood. May I hear\nThine own voice of pardoning love saying, \"Your sins which are many\nare all forgiven.\"\n\nAfter all Thou hast done for me, let me harbor no guilty and unworthy\nsuspicions of Thy faithfulness. Let me feel assured that tender love\nregulates all Thy allotments. Thou art pledged to use the dealing and\ndiscipline best suited for Thy people's case, and what will best\neffect Thine own will concerning them, even their sanctification.\nCarry on within me Thine own work in Thine own way. Fortify me against\ntemptation; let me not surrender myself to the base compliances of a\nworld lying in wickedness. But, strong in the Lord and in the power of\nHis might, may I know that He who is with me is greater far than all\nthat can be against me. Oh enkindle afresh my expiring, languishing\nlove; let me live more under the influence of \"things not seen,\"\nhaving the eye of faith more upwards and homewards, looking for that\nblessed hope, even the glorious appearing of the great God my Saviour.\n\nLet Thy kingdom come! Arise, O God, and plead Thine own cause. May all\nthe ends of the earth soon be gladdened with the Gospel's joyful\nsound!\n\nBless all in sorrow, all bereaved of near and dear friends; may they\nsee no hand in their trials but Thine. Thou givest us our blessings;\nand when Thou seest meet Thou revokest the grant. Let us see love in\nevery threatening wave, all rolling at _Thy_ bidding.\n\nLord, take the charge of me this night. Abide with me, blessed\nSaviour, for it is toward evening and the day is far spent. Oh, may it\nbe mine to feel that each successive evening as it brings me nearer\neternity, is ripening me for its never-ending joys. And all I ask is\nfor Jesus' sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nEIGHTEENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR THE DAILY DEATH.\n\n\"I die daily.\"--1 Cor. xv. 31.\n\n\nO God Almighty, Father of all mercies, God of all grace, I beseech\nThee to look down upon me at this time in Thy great kindness; let me\nfeel it to be good for me to draw near unto God.\n\nI desire to come acknowledging my great unworthiness. Forgive,\ngracious Lord, my many, many sins of thought, word, and deed; wash out\nall the defilements of the day. If I were to be tried by the doings of\nany single hour, how would I stand condemned! I am a miracle of mercy;\nkept, sustained, upheld, moment by moment, by the power of God.\n\nBlessed Saviour! where could I have been this night _but_ for _Thee_?\nThou art praying for me, as for Thy faltering disciple of old, that my\nfaith fail not. I _do_ rejoice to think that the same hand that was\nonce outstretched for me on _the_ cross is now lifted up in pleading\nlove before the Throne, and that He who is _for_ me is greater far\nthan all that can be _against_ me! Oh strengthen me with all might by\nThy Spirit in the inner man. Subdue my corruptions, crucify all\nremaining sin. Let me die to the world; let me not imbibe its false\nmaxims, conform to its sinful tastes, or accord with its evil\npractices. Let self in all its manifold forms be crucified, and God\nexalted. Come, Lord! search me, try me, prove me, and see if there be\nany wicked way in me. Let me maintain a constant and habitual hatred\nof those sins that do more easily beset me; may I exercise a holy\njealousy over my own heart. Let no prosperity be strengthening my ties\nearthward, and weakening my ties heavenward. If Thou givest me much of\nworldly good, may I write upon it all, \"the things which are seen are\ntemporal.\" May it be my exalted ambition to use it for Thy glory. If\nThou sendest trial, let it issue in the peaceable fruits of\nrighteousness, producing a child-like acquiescence in Thy present\ndealings. Let me never forget my pilgrim attitude. Let me be ever\nlooking forward to that joyous time when, \"clean escaped\" from the\ncorruptions that are in the world, I shall stand \"faultless before the\nThrone.\" Meanwhile, make me more heavenly-minded, copying the example\nof Him who was meek and lowly in heart.\n\nLet me be gentle and forgiving, let me not harbor unkind suspicions of\nothers, but consider myself, lest I also be tempted. O give me the\n_character_ of Heaven on this side of death, that when I come to pass\nthrough the swellings of Jordan I may be prepared for the joyous\nwelcome awaiting me on the shores of glory, \"Enter thou into the joy\nof thy Lord!\"\n\nHave mercy on a world lying in wickedness! Pity the careless; arouse\nthe slumbering; support the weak; succour the poor and those that have\nno helper. Bless Thy Church everywhere. May Thy ministering servants\nhide _themselves_, that their Lord may be exalted.\n\nTake the charge of me and of all near and dear to me this night. Keep\nme, O keep me, King of kings, beneath Thine own Almighty wings. Lying\ndown in Thy fear may I awake in Thy favor, fitted for all the duties\nof a new day; and all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nNINETEENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR RENUNCIATION OF SELF.\n\n\"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of\nourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.\"--2 Cor. iii. 5.\n\n\nO God! do Thou bend Thy pitying eye upon me this night, as I venture\nonce more into Thy sacred presence. What mercy it is that, with all my\ngreat unworthiness, a throne of grace is still open, and a God of\ngrace is still waiting to be gracious!\n\nI come to Thee in deep creature-destitution, bringing nothing in my\nhands, but simply cleaving, blessed Jesus, to Thy cross; looking away\nfrom my guilty self and my guilty doings to Thee, who hast done all\nand suffered all for me, I rejoice to think that Thou hast broken\nevery chain of condemnation--that Thou hast satisfied the requirements\nof a broken law; and having overcome the sharpness of death, Thou hast\nopened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.\n\nOh let me not continue in sin because all this wondrous grace abounds.\nLet me not think lightly of the accursed thing which was the cause of\nall Thine untold and unutterable anguish. I know, Lord, that I am apt\nat times to plead vain excuses for my sins. I am unwilling to think\nthem, and to think myself, so vile as I really am, in Thy pure and\nholy eye.\n\nMy heart is deceitful; but \"Thou art greater than my heart.\" Oh bring\nme in self-renouncing lowliness to cry out, \"God be merciful to me a\nsinner.\" Let me cling to no remnants of my own self-righteousness. Let\nme see that my best actions are marred with defilement and mingled\nwith impure and unworthy motives.\n\nEnable me to aim more and more at the conquest of self. Show me the\nplague of my own heart. Keep me from all that is unamiable and\nselfish, from all that is unkind and uncharitable, and that would\nexalt myself at the expense of others. Keep me holy. Keep me\nlowly.--Lead me through the valley of humiliation. May life become\nmore one grand effort to crucify sin and to please God. Take, gracious\nSaviour, my whole heart, and make it Thine; occupy it without a rival.\nMay there be no competing affection. Keep me from alienating existence\nfrom its great end, by living to myself. May this be the\nsuperscription on all my thoughts, and duties, and engagements--\"I am\nnot my own, I am bought with a price.\"\n\nMay whatever be Thy time be mine. May I not murmur at deferred\nblessings or disappointed hopes. May my own will be resolved into the\nwill of Him who knows best what to give and what to withhold.\n\nMay the Lord have mercy upon Zion. May showers of blessing descend on\nThy holy hill. Hasten the glories of the latter day, when Jesus shall\ntake to Himself His great power and reign!\n\nBless all my dear friends; may those ties which may be so soon severed\nhere be rendered indissoluble by grace. Guard their couch and mine\nthis night; give us refreshing sleep, lying down in Thy fear, and\nawaking in Thy favor, fitted for all the duties of a new day. And all\nwe ask or hope for is for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTIETH EVENING.\n\nFOR A CHILD-LIKE SPIRIT.\n\n\"My soul is even as a weaned child.\"--Psalm cxxxi. 2.\n\n\nO Lord, I rejoice that I am permitted with filial confidence to\napproach Thy blessed presence. What a privilege it is to have such\nliberty of access to the Mercy-seat--to look upwards to Thee, the\nInfinite One, whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain, and call Thee\nmy Father and my God! Earthly love may grow cold or changeable, or\nperish; but \"Thou art the same.\" The mercy of God is from everlasting\nto everlasting. Like as a father pitieth his children, so doth the\nLord pity them that fear Him.\n\nAlas! I have to mourn too often an unthankful spirit amid all Thy\nmanifold mercies. I have been rebellious and wayward, ungrateful and\nselfish. Thou mightest righteously have surrendered me to my own\nperverse will; left me to the fruit of my own ways, and to be filled\nwith my own devices. It is of the Lord's mercies that I am not\nconsumed! Infinite is my want, but infinite too is my help. I would\nseek to stand before Thee, O God, in the nothingness of the creature,\nand to know the boundless resources treasured up for me in the great\nRedeemer. Unite me to Him by a living faith, as Thine own child by\nadoption; may it be my great desire to glorify Thee, my Father in\nHeaven; cherishing towards Thee a spirit of filial love and\ndevotedness, seeking to do only what will please Thee, and having a\nsalutary fear of offending so kind and forbearing a Parent.\n\nOh keep me from any sullen fretfulness, or unbelieving misgivings,\nunder the strokes of Thy chastening hand. Let there be no hard\nconstruction of Thy dealings. May I see all Thy chastisements tempered\nwith gracious love--_all_ to be needful discipline. Give me an\nunwavering trust and confidence in Thy faithfulness. Nothing befalls\nme but by Thy direction; nothing is appointed but what is for my good.\n\nLet Thy varied dealings conform me to the image of my adorable Lord.\nLet me be willing to suffer patiently for _Him_ who so willingly and\nso patiently suffered for _me_. Let me not so much seek to have my\nafflictions removed as to have grace given me to glorify Thee in them,\nand in the spirit of a weaned child to say, \"Even so, Father!\" O may\nmy heart become a living temple, my life a living sacrifice, breathing\nthe incense of gratitude and love. Let me give myself no rest until in\nthis soul of mine I find a place for the Lord, an habitation for the\nmighty God of Jacob.\n\nDo Thou sanctify trial to all the sons and daughters of sorrow. Draw\nnear to those bereaved of beloved relatives. Do Thou Thyself\ncompensate for every earthly loss. May they know that Thou art\nfaithful who hast promised, \"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the\nend of the world.\"\n\nHave mercy on Thy whole Church. Heal divisions. Bless Thy preached\nword. Strengthen Thy ministering servants, that they may be enabled to\nproclaim the whole counsel of God.\n\nTake the charge of me, and of all near and dear to me, this night.\nGive Thine angels charge over us. May no unquiet dreams disturb our\nrest, and when we awake may we be still with Thee. And all I ask is\nfor Jesus' sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FIRST EVENING.\n\nFOR HEAVENWARD PROGRESS.\n\n\"The path of the just is as the shining light, which shines more and\nmore onto the perfect day.\"--Proverbs iv. 18.\n\n\nO God, I bless Thee that Thou hast spared me during another day, and\npermitted the shadows of another evening to gather around me in peace.\nIt is Thou, Lord, only who makest me to dwell in safety. Enable me to\nlive from day to day as the pensioner on Thy bounty; to feel my\ndependence; to receive every created blessing and gift direct from Thy\nhand, and to seek to have all of them sweetened and hallowed as the\npledges of Thy covenant love in Jesus.\n\nI bless Thee, gracious God, for the richer tokens of Thy redeeming\ngrace in Him. I bless Thee that His infinite merit has come in the\nplace of my infinite demerit, that in Him there is \"no condemnation;\"\nthat in His precious blood I have a secure shelter from the terrors of\nThy righteous law and the accusations of a guilty conscience. May I\nknow more and more the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of\nHis sufferings. May my every hope of pardon centre in His cross. May I\nbe living from day to day under the constraining influence of His\nlove, and experience now a sweet foretaste of that everlasting\ncommunion which awaits me in His presence hereafter.\n\nLord, quicken me in my heavenly way; let me not loiter or linger on\nthe road. Let this be my habitual feeling and watchword, \"I am\njourneying.\" May I seek to mark my progressive advancement in the\ndivine life, my increasing conformity to the image and will of Thee,\nmy God. Keep me humble, cherishing a constant sense of my dependence\non Thee. Oh in every step Zionward, may I be led to cry, \"_Hold Thou_\nme up, and I shall be safe.\" Let there be no longer any halting between\ntwo opinions, any wavering or indecision. May I regard life as a great\nmission to please Thee. Let my animating wish be to be nearer Thee\nnow, ere I come to be with Thee for ever in glory everlasting. Walking\nheavenwards, may I feel I am walking homewards.\n\nMay I spend each day as if possibly it were my last, so that should\nthe midnight cry break upon my ears, \"Prepare to meet Thy God,\" it\nmight be to me no unexpected summons, but as an angel whispering, \"The\nMaster is come and calleth for thee.\"\n\nLook down in mercy on the dark places of the earth full of the\nhabitations of horrid cruelty. How long shall the wicked, how long\nshall the wicked triumph? Go forth with Thy missionary servants in\nheathen lands; may they witness much of Thy power; may Thy word still\nbe mighty as ever to the pulling down of Satan's strongholds. Give thy\nChurches at home grace to be more faithful in the fulfilment of the\ngreat commission of their Great Head--\"Go ye into all the world and\npreach the Gospel to every creature!\"\n\nTake all my beloved friends this night under Thy guardian care. Shield\nthem from all danger; and if Thou art pleased to spare us till\nto-morrow, may we rise refreshed and invigorated for the duties of a\nnew day. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SECOND EVENING.\n\nFOR HUMILITY OF HEART.\n\n\"He giveth grace unto the humble.\"--James iv. 6.\n\n\nO God, Thou art great and greatly to be feared. Thy greatness is\nunsearchable. Thou art seated on a throne that is high and lifted up;\nmyriads of blessed spirits cease not day nor night to celebrate Thy\npraise in their ever-triumphant hymn, \"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord\nGod of hosts.\"\n\nBut I rejoice to think that though Heaven is Thy dwelling-place Thou\ndeignest to dwell in the humble and contrite heart; no sacrifice dost\nThou so love as that of the broken spirit; no incense so prized by\nThee as the incense of a grateful, believing soul, which, oppressed\nwith its own unworthiness and sin, reposes with unwavering trust in\nthe work and righteousness of the Great Surety.\n\nLord, on this ever-living, ever-loving Saviour I desire wholly to\nlean. As helpless, hopeless, friendless, portionless, I cast myself on\nHim who is Helper of the helpless and Friend of the friendless. There\nis nothing but Thy sacrifice and intercession, O Thou Lamb of God,\nbetween me and everlasting destruction. O wash every crimson and\nscarlet stain away in Thy precious blood. Let me lie low at the foot\nof Thy cross. Give me a lowly estimate of myself, and a lofty view of\nThy all-glorious work and finished righteousness. I have no other hope\nof mercy, and, blessed be Thy name, I _need_ no other.\n\nWhile I take Thee as my Saviour, may I be enabled to follow Thee also\nas my pattern; conscious of the supreme enthronement of Thy love in my\nheart, may I feel superior to all the fluctuations and changes of a\nchanging world. May I live as the chartered heir of a better\ninheritance; while in the world, may I seek not to be of it. May I\ndiffuse around me the noiseless influence of a heavenly life,\nsubordinating all I do to Thy glory. Lord, enable me to be useful in\nthe sphere in which Thou hast placed me, to work while it is called\nto-day, remembering that there is no work nor device nor labor in the\ngrave whither I am going.\n\nBless all in sorrow. Sanctify their trials. Keep us ever from the\nguilty atheism of looking to second causes. May we ever rejoice in the\nelevating assurance that \"the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth,\" and that\nThou orderest all things wisely and well. May the Holy Spirit the\nComforter pour his own balm into every bleeding heart.\n\nHave mercy on a world lying in wickedness. Hasten that glorious period\nwhen creation, now groaning and travailing in sin, shall be delivered\nfrom the bondage of corruption and be translated into the glorious\nliberty of the children of God. Let Thy word everywhere have free\ncourse and be glorified. May Jesus, faithfully \"lifted up\" by the\nattractive power of his cross, draw all men unto him.\n\nLet Thy best benediction rest on my friends. The Lord watch between\nthem and me when we are absent one from another. May we experience Thy\nguardian care this night; and if spared to awake in the morning, may\nit be to spend a new day in Thy service, through Jesus Christ, our\nblessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-THIRD EVENING.\n\nFOR FIRMNESS IN TEMPTATION.\n\n\"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.\"--James iv. 7.\n\n\nO God, Thou art from everlasting to everlasting. Loving me at the\nbeginning, Thou hast promised to love me even unto the end.\nNotwithstanding all the fitful changes of my own changing heart\ntowards _Thee_, there _has_ been, and _can_ be, no shadow of turning\nin Thy covenant faithfulness towards _me_. I am at this hour the\nmonument of Thy mercy--a living comment on the words, \"Thy ways are\nnot as man's ways, nor Thy thoughts as man's thoughts.\"\n\nIf I have been enabled in any degree to resist the assaults of\ntemptation, it is all Thy doing. I am \"kept by the power of God.\"\nUnless the Lord had been my help, my soul must long ere now have dwelt\nin silence. By the grace of God I am what I am.\n\nLord, indulged and cherished sin unfits me for the enjoyment of Thy\nservice and favor. I have to lament my proneness to evil, the natural\nbias of my heart to that which is opposed to Thy pure and holy will.\nWhen I would do good, sin is too often present with me. I feel the\npower of my spiritual adversaries. If left to myself and my own\nunaided resources, I must often hopelessly resign the conflict.\n\nBut I rejoice to think that there is help and hope and strength at\nhand. I would look to Him who is now bending upon me an eye of\nunchanging love from the throne. All Thy ascension glories, blessed\nRedeemer, have not obliterated the tenderness of Thy humanity. Thou\nart \"that same Jesus;\" Thou, the abiding Friend, art still left\nchangeless among the changeable; and when Satan often desires to have\nme, that he might sift me as wheat, it is Thy intercessory prayer that\nsaves me from utter ruin. Thou art pleading for me, that my faith fail\nnot! Oh may I be found invincible in the hour of temptation, being\nmade more than conqueror through Him that loved me. Sheltered in Thee\nthe true Refuge, the wicked one will touch me not.\n\nLet me not trifle with my own soul or with the momentous interests of\neternity. Let me every day be living under the realizing consciousness\nthat Thy pure eye is upon me. Keep me from all that is at variance\nwith Thy gracious mind. Keep me from unchristian tempers, from an\nunholy or inconsistent or uneven walk. By a Christ-like demeanor may I\nexhibit the sanctifying and transforming influence of the Gospel on my\nown soul, that others may take knowledge of me that I have been with\nJesus.\n\nGod of Bethel! do Thou take under Thy protecting providence all\nrelated to me by endearing ties. However far we may be separated from\none another, let us never be separated from Thee. Let us often rejoice\nin this our common meeting-place; that around Thy mercy-seat in spirit\nwe can assemble, and lay our evening incense in the one Golden Censer\nof our gracious High Priest!\n\nTake charge of me this night, defend me from all danger; whether I\nwake or sleep, may I live together with Thee; and all that I ask or\nhope for is in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, my only\nSaviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FOURTH EVENING.\n\nFOR COMPOSURE IN TRIAL.\n\n\"Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight.\"--Matt. xi. 26.\n\n\nO God, I come into Thy presence this night, rejoicing that amid all\nearth's vicissitudes, I have in Thee a rock that cannot be shaken.\nThou doest according to Thy will in the armies of Heaven, and among\nthe inhabitants of the earth! Thou doest all things well, and nothing\nbut what _is_ well. There is no finite wisdom in Thy dealings. All is\nthe result of combined faithfulness, power, and love. Let me repose in\nthe righteous ordinations of Thy will. If Thou withhold from me\nearthly blessings, let me feel that the very denial is precious\nbecause it is Thy sovereign pleasure. Covenant love and wisdom cannot\nlead or teach me wrong; every burden is imposed by Thee. The lot may\nbe thrown into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the\nLord.\n\nO Thou who turnest the shadow of death into the morning, may every\nwilderness-storm only drive me nearer Thyself, my true shelter. Thou\ntakest the sting from every cross, the bitterness from every cup. Let\nme recognise in all that befalls me the tokens of a Father's love; and\nif sense and sight should at times fail to descry \"the bright light in\nthe cloud,\" may I see written over every dark trial Thine own\nunanswerable challenge, \"He that spared not his own Son, but gave Him\nup to the death for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give\nus all things?\"\n\nLord! the end of all Thy sovereign dealings is to subjugate my wayward\nwill, and to unfold more of the preciousness of Jesus. Blessed Spirit\nof all grace! do Thou take of the things that are Christ's and show\nthem unto my soul. Let me not stagger at the promises through\nunbelief. Let me see nothing but love in the past, love in the\npresent, and love looming through the mists of a cloudy future. Thou,\nO God, art seated by every furnace; all is meted out, all is provided\nfor; all has a \"need be\" in it! Magnify the power of Thy grace in me,\nby a sweet spirit of patient submission to Thy righteous ordinations.\nMay I seek to have no other prayer than this, \"Father, glorify Thy\nname.\" Impart Thou that inner sunshine which no outward darkness or\ntrial can obscure. May the peace of God, which passeth understanding,\nkeep my heart.\n\nMay Thy Holy Spirit shed abroad His blessed influences over the whole\nChurch. Revive Thy work, O God, in the midst of the years. In wrath\nremember mercy. May Thy ministers be more faithful. May Thy people be\nmore close and consistent in their walk with Thee. May the young be\ngrowing up in Thy fear and favor; may the aged find in Thee the staff\nof their declining years. May the sick and afflicted pillow their head\non Thy promises. May the dying fall asleep in Jesus.\n\nI commend myself, my friends, and all belonging to me, to Thy paternal\ncare and keeping; and when earth's long night-watches of trial and\nsorrow are ended, may I wake up in the sorrowless morning of glory, to\nenjoy uninterrupted fellowship with Thyself. Through Jesus Christ, my\nonly Lord and Saviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FIFTH EVENING.\n\nFOR ACTIVITY IN DUTY.\n\n\"Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the\nLord.\"--Romans xii. 11.\n\n\nLord, I come to Thee this night rejoicing in the thought that Thou\nfaintest not, neither are weary: Thou art ever good, and doing me\ngood. Thine arm is never shortened, Thine ear is never heavy. The\ngates of prayer are ever open. The Throne of the Heavenly Grace is\never accessible, none of Thy children need perish with hunger!\n\nMay the darkness now gathering around me be as the shadow of Thine\ninfinite presence. I take comfort in the thought that the Shepherd of\nIsrael neither slumbers nor sleeps; that He is ever bending over me\nhis watchful, untiring eye, compassing my path and my lying down, and\nholding up my doings that my footsteps do not stumble.\n\nLord, how sad is the contrast of Thine unwearied and unwearying\nwatchfulness, with my negligence and inactivity in Thy service. How\nlittle have I sought to promote Thy glory. How little have I felt the\nsolemnity and responsibility of being a steward in Thy household! Let\nme be more zealous for Thy honor in the future. Let me seek more than\nI have ever yet done, to ask in the midst of life's duties and\nengagements, its perplexities and trials, in simple faith, \"Lord! what\nwouldst thou have me to do?\" Let me feel that duty is a delight when\ndone for Thee. Keep me from further relaxing my diligence. Let me not\nmock Thee any longer with the wrecks of a worn affection. Let there be\nno half-surrender of the heart and life to Thee, but may soul and body\nbe consecrated as living sacrifices, and may I have the growing\nexperience that active obedience in Thy service is self-rewarding.\n\nLord! I have indeed a vast work to do and a brief time to do it in.\nMay opportunities and talents, while I have them, be cheerfully given\nto Thee. May the warning words oft sound in my ear, \"Work while it is\ncalled today, for the night cometh wherein no man can work.\" Oh\nprepare me for my Saviour's coming. Forbid that I should be found\namong the slothful servants or the faithless stewards who are\nsquandering their Lord's money, and are living, forgetful that a time\nof reckoning is at hand! May I be so waiting and so watching, and so\nworking, that the cry may never break too soon or too suddenly on my\nears--\"Behold, the Judge standeth before the door!\"\n\nSend forth thy gracious Spirit into a world lying in wickedness.\nScatter the darkness that is now brooding over the nations. Bless all\nthy ministering servants; may they be valiant for the truth; may the\nLord send His own angel to stand by them, and to shut the mouths of\nevery adversary.\n\nBless all my friends; may they too be working out their own salvation\nwith fear and trembling, and so be found at last prepared for the\nappearing and kingdom of Jesus.\n\nTake me under Thy protecting care this night; vouchsafe me a season of\nrefreshing repose; spare me to awake in Thy favor; and may every\nreturning morning find me better prepared for the glorious noon-day of\nimmortality; through Jesus Christ, my ever-living Saviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SIXTH EVENING.\n\nFOR THE SPIRIT'S TEACHING.\n\n\"As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of\nGod.\"--Rom. viii. 14.\n\n\nO Lord, Thou art the God of my life and the length of my days. There\nis no real happiness independent of Thee. Thy favor is life. In vain\ncan I seek for any satisfying portion in an unsatisfying world. If\nbereft of Thee I am bereaved indeed. But with Thy countenance shining\nupon me, I must be safe, I must be happy.\n\nDo Thou pour down upon me the gifts and graces of Thy Holy Spirit. May\nhe \"garrison\" my heart. May He write on its blood-besprinkled lintels\nthe superscription, \"Holiness to the Lord.\" Oh may this soul of mine\nbecome a living temple, an \"habitation of God through the Spirit.\" Let\nme not trifle with convictions. Let me not grieve by my hardness and\nimpenitency that gracious Agent, whereby I am sealed unto the day of\nredemption; but may all my affections be willingly surrendered to His\nservice. By His omnipotent energy may every high thought and lofty\nimagination be brought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus. May I\nbe enabled to lean upon Him in the extremity of my weakness. Fill me\nwith all joy and peace in believing that I may abound in hope through\nthe power of the Holy Ghost; fitted for Thy service here, and for the\nenjoyment of Thee forever hereafter.\n\nI pray for the outpouring of the same blessed Spirit on the whole\nChurch. May He descend like rain upon the mown grass, and as showers\nthat water the earth. Come from the four winds, O Breath, and breathe\nupon the slain in the valley! Hasten that glorious period when the\nyear of Thy redeemed shall come, when the earth shall be full of the\ntabernacles of the righteous, in which the voice of joy and melody\nwill continually be heard!\n\nOh that there were more in me of the mind of my gracious Saviour, on\nwhom the Spirit was poured without measure. May I, like Him, be more\nmeek and gentle, more amiable and forgiving, overcoming evil with\ngood.--Transform me into the same image from glory to glory, by the\nLord the Spirit.\n\nHide all my friends under the shadow of Thy wings. Put Thy good Spirit\nalso into their hearts. May He guide them into all the truth, and\nreveal to them more and more of the preciousness of Jesus.\n\nLet all poor afflicted ones rejoice in the presence and consolations\nof the promised Comforter; may He pour oil and wine into their wounds;\nmay He strengthen them in the midst of all their tribulations, and\nenable them in lowly resignation to say, \"The Lord's will be done.\"\nTeach us all to repose in that will as the best; and to make it day by\nday our aim and ambition to attain a greater conformity to it.\n\nLord, take the charge of me through the watches of the night. Under\nthe blessed sense of Thy presence and favor I would compose myself to\nrest, and when I awake, may I be still with Thee. And all I ask is for\nJesus' sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SEVENTH EVENING.\n\nFOR THE WORLD'S CONVERSION.\n\n\"The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters\ncover the sea.\"--Isaiah xi. 9.\n\n\nO God, I desire to draw near into Thy blessed presence, beseeching\nThee to lift upon me the light of Thy countenance and grant me a\nFather's blessing. I am utterly unworthy of Thy mercies. And it is\nonly in Jesus, the Son of Thy love, that I dare venture to cast myself\nat Thy footstool.\n\nI rejoice to think that in Him there is an open door of welcome; that\nHe has by His doing and dying satisfied the demands of Thy righteous\nlaw, and magnified all Thy glorious attributes. I would bury all my\nsins in the ocean-depths of His redeeming love. Oh let me now know the\nblessedness of _living_, and at last the blessedness of _dying_, at\npeace with Thee, in the sure and certain hope of a resurrection to\neternal life.\n\nDarkness is still covering the lands, and gross darkness the people.\nLord, do Thou have mercy on a world lying in wickedness. I rejoice to\nthink of all Thy glorious promises concerning the latter day. That\nthis creation of ours, now groaning and travailing in bondage under\nsin, is yet to be delivered from the yoke of corruption, and to be\ntranslated into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Glorify Thy\ngreat name in the salvation of sinners! Hasten the period of predicted\nglory, when all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God;\nwhen from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the\nLord's name is to be praised. May Thine own omnipotent Spirit brood\nover the darkness, as He did over chaos of old, and say, \"Let there be\nlight, and there will be light.\" May gladsome voices soon be heard\nproclaiming, \"Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of\nthe Lord is risen upon thee.\"\n\nOh may I know personally something of that compassionate yearning over\nruined souls and a ruined world that my Saviour had. Let me be\nprodigal in devising means for the extension of His kingdom and the\ngood of my fellow-men. I would pray the Lord of the harvest that He\nwould send forth laborers to the harvest. Stand by Thy missionary\nservants. May they have many souls for their hire. May mountains of\ndifficulty be levelled before them; may crooked things be made\nstraight and rough places plain, and may the glory of the Lord be\nrevealed. Let them exercise simple faith in the power of Thy word and\nthe efficacy of Thy grace. May they feel that these are mighty as they\never were to the pulling down of strongholds.\n\nArouse Thy churches to greater zeal. May Jesus, faithfully lifted up\nby His servants, by the attractive power of His cross draw all men\nunto Him. May they be the honored instruments of preparing many gems\nfor Immanuel's crown, who will be found unto praise and honor and\nglory at His second appearing.\n\nLord, guard me through the silent watches of the night; be the defence\nand protection of my friends and relatives; may they too dwell under\nthe shadow of Thy wings and experience the sleep of Thy beloved; and\nwhen the night of earth's ignorance shall vanish away, may we all wake\nup in glory everlasting, through Jesus Christ, our only Lord and\nSaviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS\n THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-EIGHTH EVENING.\n\nFOR THE CHURCH'S REVIVAL.\n\n\"Revive Thy work in the midst of the years.\"--Hab. iii. 2.\n\n\nO God, Thou hast permitted me in Thy great mercy to see another\nevening. How many of my fellow-men have this day slept the sleep of\ndeath, and are now beyond the reach of grace and privilege! I am still\nspared, all unworthy though I be, a monument of Thy forbearance and\nlove.\n\nI desire to make acknowledgment of my many and grievous offences. They\nare more in number than the sand of the sea;--sins against light, and\nmercy, and warning; sins committed against the kindest of Benefactors,\nthe most indulgent of Parents.\n\nI would seek anew to take refuge in the offered shelter of the Gospel,\nand to rejoice anew in the faithful saying that Jesus Christ came into\nthe world to save the chief of sinners. Oh may I be enabled\nconfidingly to repose in His matchless sacrifice, and with lively\nappropriating faith to say, \"He loved _me_ and gave Himself for _me_!\"\n\nLord, carry on Thine own work within me. Quicken my languid and\nlanguishing affections by the omnipotent agency of Thy Holy Spirit.\nLet me not live at a guilty distance from Thy favor; but may I covet a\nclose and habitual walk with Thee, and feel the sustaining power of\nThy grace in my heart.\n\nRevive Thy work in Thine own Church universal, Thou great High Priest,\nwho walketh in the midst of the golden candlesticks. Do Thou feed\nevery lamp with the oil of Thy grace. Let them burn with a clearer,\nholier, more steady and consistent flame. As lights set in the world,\nmay they diffuse Thy glory; and feel the honor of being instrumental\nin shedding abroad a Saviour's love.\n\nOh may the Lord arise and have mercy upon Zion. May the time to favor\nher, yea, the set time, soon come. As there is but one Shepherd, so\nmay there soon be but one sheep-fold. Let Thy churches no longer\ncontinue apart from one another in unholy estrangement, but live in\nthe unity of the Spirit and in the bond of peace; holding fast that\nwhich they have, that no man take their crown. Spirit of all grace,\ncome in all the plenitude of Thy love and mercy. Breathe upon every\nportion of Thy visible Church, and say, \"Receive ye the Holy Ghost!\"\n\"Awake, O north wind! come, thou south! blow upon our garden, that the\nspices thereof may flow out.\" May Thy gracious influences descend like\nrain upon the mown grass, and as showers that water the earth.\n\nBless all Thy faithful ministers. May peace be upon them and upon the\nwhole Israel of God. Direct their hearts and the hearts of all Thy\nfaithful people into Thy love, and into the patient waiting for\nChrist.\n\nComfort all in sorrow. May they see a \"need be\" written on all their\ntrials. May they look beyond the long night-watch of earth to the\nglories of that eternal morning when clouds and darkness shall for\never flee away.\n\nTake charge of me while I sleep, and as evening after evening comes\nround may I feel that a day has been spent for Thee. Hear me, gracious\nLord, for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS\n THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-NINTH EVENING.\n\nFOR SUPPORT IN DEATH.\n\n\"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will\nfear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort\nme.\"--Ps. xxiii. 4.\n\n\nO God, I come to Thee this night through Jesus Christ, the Son of Thy\nlove, beseeching Thee to have mercy upon me, and to impart unto me\nthat Peace of Thine which passeth all understanding. Blessed be Thy\ngreat and glorious name for those hopes full of immortality which have\nbeen opened up to me in the Gospel. I rejoice in Christ as the great\nAbolisher of death. I rejoice that the rainbow of covenant\nfaithfulness spans the entrance to the dark valley; that all that is\nterrible in the last enemy is in Him taken away, and that I can regard\nthese closing hours of existence as the introduction and doorway into\neverlasting bliss.\n\nGive me grace, O God, to be living in constant preparation for death.\nLet me not unprofitably squander my present golden moments. Let me\n_live_ while I _live_--let me live a dying life. Let me feel that life\nis a trust given me by Thee. O Thou Great Proprietor of my being, may\nthis all important talent of time be more consecrated to Thy glory.\nLet it not be mine, when the hour of death arrives, to bewail, when it\nis too late, lost and forfeited opportunities. Let me not leave till\nthen, what best can be done and what only _may_ be done now. May it be\nmy earnest endeavor while it is called today to secure a saving\ninterest in the everlasting covenant, and then I need not fear how\nsoon the silver cord may be loosed and the golden bowl broken. Through\nJesus the darkness has been taken from death, and to His own true\npeople its shadows will melt and merge into the brightness of eternal\nday.\n\nThou art ever giving me impressive remembrances that \"at such an hour\nas I think not,\" the summons may come, \"Prepare to meet Thy God.\" The\nrace is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Verily every\nmoment there may be but a step between me and death. Let me be so\nliving a life of habitual faith in the Son of God that this step may\nbe changed into a step between me and glory.\n\nLord, prepare all who may now be laid on dying couches for their great\nchange. May their eyes be directed to Jesus. Pillowing their heads on\nhis exceeding great and precious promises, may they fall asleep in the\nglorious hope of a joyful resurrection.\n\nBless all in sorrow; those who have recently been bereaved of near and\ndear friends, who may have been called recently to the brink of the\ntomb, consigning their loved ones to the narrow house appointed for\nall living. May they be enabled to fix their sorrowing gaze on the\nbrighter prospects beyond death and the grave, and anticipate that\nglorious hour when, reunited to death-divided friends, they will be\nable to exult together in the song, \"O death, where is thy sting? O\ngrave, where is thy victory?\"\n\nTake the charge of me this night. Watch over me during the unconscious\nhours of sleep, and when I too come to the long night and slumber of\ndeath, may it be the gentle rest of Thy beloved, a falling asleep in\nthe arms of everlasting love, looking forward to the joyful waking\ntime of immortality, through Jesus Christ my only Saviour. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHIRTIETH EVENING.\n\nFOR PREPARATION FOR JUDGMENT.\n\n\"Prepare to meet thy God.\"--Amos iv. 12.\n\n\nO God, Thou art daily loading me with Thy benefits. Thou art making\nthe outgoings of the evening and morning to rejoice over me, giving me\nunnumbered causes for gratitude and thankfulness. No earthly friend\ncould have loved and cared for me like Thee. Oh may the life Thou art\nthus preserving by Thine unceasing bounty be unreservedly dedicated to\nThy praise.\n\nLord, keep me mindful that I am soon to be done with this world, that\nI am fast borne along the stream of time to an endless futurity. \"It\nis appointed unto all once to die, and after death the judgment.\" May\nI be living in a constant state of preparedness for that solemn hour\nwhen small and great shall stand before God, and the books shall be\nopened. Educate me for eternity. Let me not be frittering away these\nfleeting but precious moments. Impress on me the solemn conviction\nthat \"as men live so do men die,\" that as death leaves me so will\njudgment find me. Oh let death leave me falling asleep in Jesus,\nunited to Him by a living faith, that so judgment may find me seated\nat His right hand, listening to the joyous welcome, \"Come, ye blessed\nof my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation\nof the world.\"\n\nBlessed Jesus, all my hope of a glorious resurrection centres in Thee.\nI look to Thee as the strong tower which cannot be shaken. I flee anew\nto the holy sanctuary of Thy covenant love. Sheltered there, amid a\ndissolving earth, and burning worlds, I shall be able joyfully to\nutter the challenge, \"Who shall separate me from the love of Christ?\"\nMeanwhile may I seek to \"occupy\" till my Lord comes. Keep me from all\nnegligence and unwatchfulness. Trim my flickering lamp. Let me live\nwith Thy Judgment-throne in view. Whether waking or sleeping, may I\nbear about with me the thought that I must soon give an account of\nmyself to God. May I feel that all the talents and means Thou hast\ngiven me are trusts to be laid out for Thee. When thou comest to\ndemand a reckoning, may I not be among the number of those who have\nhid their talent in the earth, and have the cheerless retrospect of a\nmisspent time.\n\nLord! bless my friends, reward my benefactors, forgive my enemies.\nSanctify sorrow to all the sons and daughters of trial. May the torch\nof Thy love light up their gloomy prospects. May every providential\nvoice sound loud in their ears, \"Arise and depart ye, for this is not\nyour rest!\"\n\nGracious God, watch over me during the night, and grant that at last,\nwhen all earth's evenings and mornings shall have passed away, I may,\non the great day-break of glory, wake up in Thy likeness, through Him\nin whom is all my hope, and to whom, with Thee, O Father, and Thee,\never blessed Spirit, one God, be everlasting praise, honor, and glory,\nworld without end. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHIRTY-FIRST EVENING.\n\nFOR MEETING IN HEAVEN.\n\n\"Meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in\nlight.\"--Col. i. 12.\n\n\nO God, I come into Thy gracious presence on this the close of another\nday, beseeching Thee to accept of my evening sacrifice. May this my\nunworthy prayer come up before Thee perfumed with the fragrant incense\nof the Saviour's adorable merits. It is my comfort to know, O Thou\nblessed Intercessor within the veil, that Thou art even now appearing\nin the presence of God for me! The names of Thy covenant people are\nengraven on Thy breastplate, and, all unworthy in themselves, they are\naccepted in the Beloved.\n\nMy special prayer to Thee this night is, that by Thy grace I may be\nmade meet for Thy blood-bought inheritance in Glory. Transform me by\nthe indwelling power of the Holy Ghost; may I be dying daily unto sin,\nand living daily unto righteousness. Make me more heavenly-minded.\nGive me more of a pilgrim attitude and a pilgrim spirit. May I ever\nfeel that my true home is above, that I am here but a wayfarer and\nsojourner, as all my fathers were. May I attain, as I advance nearer\nheaven, the blessed habit of a holy life, bearing about with me the\nlofty impress of one who is born _from_ above and _for_ above,\ndeclaring plainly that I seek \"a better country.\"\n\nLet me not arraign the appointments of Infinite wisdom, but patiently\nawait the disclosures of the great day. Keep me from a hasty spirit\nunder dark dispensations. I am no judge as to what fancied mercies are\nbest withholden. Let me look to every trial as an appointed messenger\nfrom the Throne whispering in my ears, \"Be ye also ready!\" May I\ndelight often to anticipate that happy time when I shall suffer no\nmore, and sin no more; when Thou shalt no longer teach me by\nmysterious dispensations and a crossed will; when all shall be \"a sea\nof glass\" without one disturbing ripple, and I shall trace with joyous\nheart the long line of unbroken love and unchanging faithfulness! Anew\nI would wash in the atoning fountain. Anew I would take refuge \"in the\nfaithful saying.\" O blot out all the sins of the bygone day. Let them\nnot rise up in the Judgment to condemn me. Let me close my eyes this\nnight listening to the Saviour's own voice--\"Your sins which are many\nare all forgiven you.\"\n\nMay the Lord arise and have mercy upon Zion. May the streams of Thy\ngrace make glad the city of God. Build up her broken walls; restore\nher ruined towers; may her watchmen be men of faith and men of prayer;\nmaking mention of the Lord, and keeping not silence, till He\nestablish, and till he make Jerusalem again a praise in the earth.\n\nLord, bless my friends. Let us exult in those ties which survive the\nuncertain ones of earth, and look forward to the hour when we shall\ncome to stand at last faultless before Thy Throne. Oh, prepare us all\nfor the breaking of that eternal day--that \"morning without clouds,\"\nwhen in Thy light we shall see light--when the love of Christ shall be\nenthroned supremely in every heart, when the glory of Christ will form\nthe animating motive and principle of life that shall never end: and\nall I ask is for His sake. Amen.\n\n \"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS\n INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS\n AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE.\"\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nBOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED\n\nBY H. HOOKER.\n\n\nA PLAIN COMMENTARY ON THE FOUR HOLY GOSPELS, intended chiefly for\ndevotional reading. Complete from the London edition. In two volumes,\n8vo. Price $4, in muslin, gilt; in half calf, $5\u00a050, two volumes in\none; in two volumes, half calf, $6.\n\nThis is esteemed the best Commentary on the Holy Gospels ever\npublished for general use. It is a mine of devotional thought and\ninspiration; beautiful and simple in style, and bringing to bear on\nthe elucidation of the sacred text the choicest learning, both ancient\nand modern. It should find a welcome in every Christian family.\n\n\nSERMONS BY THE REV. ALEXANDER H. VINTON, D. D. In one volume. 12mo.,\n$1.\n\nSERMONS BY THE REV. A. CLEVELAND COXE. In one volume, 12mo., $1.\n\nSERMONS BY THE RIGHT REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D. In one volume, 12mo.,\n$1.\n\nSEARCH OF TRUTH; a Manual of Instruction concerning the Way of\nSalvation. By Rev. James Craik. 12mo., 75 cents.\n\nTHE BOY TRAINED TO BE A CLERGYMAN. By Rev. John N. Norton. 18mo., 37\ncents.\n\nDR. WORDSWORTH ON THE INSPIRATION AND CANON OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. 18mo.,\n$1\u00a050.\n\nDR. WORDSWORTH ON THE APOCALYPSE. 8vo., $2.\n\nTHE EPISCOPATE; ITS HISTORY, DUTIES, &c., &c. By Hugh Davey Evans,\nLL.D. 12mo., 62 cents.\n\nTwo very desirable editions of THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. Just\ncompleted.\n\nTHE BOOK OF THE HOMILIES OF THE CHURCH. In one volume, 8vo., $2\u00a025.\n\n\nTWENTY-EIGHT LECTURES ON THE MORNING PRAYER: by Rev. Robert A. Hallam,\nD. D., Rector of St. James' Church, New London, Conn.\n\n\"The Rev. Dr. Hallam's Lectures on the Morning Prayer are a valuable\naddition to the working material for ordinary parish instruction. He\ngoes carefully, judiciously, moderately, through all the parts of the\nMorning Prayer, including the Litany, and draws out with great\nrichness and fulness the admirable order, the wonderful connection of\nspirit and beauty, the deep inner life, of that inestimable Office.\nThere is also a sufficient infusion of liturgical learning to make the\nvolume very instructive to the great bulk of all our congregations.\n\nWith all its wise moderation of statement, there is a warm glow in the\nlanguage of Dr. Hallam's book, a fervor in the feeling, and even an\neloquence of expression in many places, which cannot but produce in\nall its readers a more full and harmonious appreciation of our\nincomparable Liturgy. It will make the worship of our congregations a\nwonderfully more _reasonable, holy and living_ sacrifice unto God,\ninspiring it with a deeper and truer life wherever its healthful\ninfluence extends.\"--_Church Journal._\n\n\"A work of great merit, remarkable in its adaptations to defend and\ncommend the Church. Let it be read for information about the Church\nand the improvement of devotional spirit in her members.\"--_Banner of\nthe Cross._\n\n\"The book of Dr. Hallam is the best book we have seen to put into the\nhands of persons desiring to understand the Church.\"\n\n\"The mode of treating the subject gives it full right to a place among\nworks on _practical religion_. The leading object of the Lectures is\nto show that this was the design and intent of the Service, and that\nnone who enter into its spirit can fail of being improved by its use.\nThere is also something in the manner in which our author treats his\nsubject--so much of his own agreeable peculiarities of thought and\nstyle characterizing it, as to throw an air of freshness over the\nsubject itself, rendering the perusal as pleasant as it is profitable.\nIn doctrine and usage, Dr. H. follows the golden mean, the _via media_\nwhich has ever marked the course of the Church.\"--_The Calendar._","title":"Evening Incense","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":19034}