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FRIDAY MORNING.

BLESSED and glorious God; thou art the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; the Father of mercies, and the God of all grace. We are not worthy of the least of all thy blessings; and yet how large a share have we had of them! Open thou our lips, and our mouths shall shew forth thy praise.

We are thy creatures, O Lord, whose hands have made and fashioned us; thou art the Father of our spirits, and our bodies are thy workmanship. [Thine eye did see our substance, being yet imperfect, and in thy book all our members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them. Thou hast clothed us with skin and flesh, thou hast fenced our bones with sinews, thou hast granted us life and favour, and thy visitation preserveth our spirits.]

We bless thee that thou hast made us after thine own image, but a little lower

than the angels, and crowned us with glory and honour: that thou hast taught us more than the beasts of the field, and made us wiser than the fowls of the air. Help us to worship and serve thee the Lord our maker. May all those powers, by which thou hast distinguished us from the rest of thy creatures, be devoted to thy service, and employed for thine honour.

We bless thee for thy tender care of us in the helpless state of infancy, and for the constant attendance of thy providence ever since. Thou hast fed us all our life long, and redeemed us from evil. We bless thee for preservation or recovery from sickness, and for deliverance from the many dangers to which we have been exposed. Thou hast, in love to our souls, saved us from the pit of corruption, thou· hast delivered our eyes from tears, our feet from falling, and our souls from death. O may thy goodness lead us to repentance, and may we walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

We praise thee that we were born in a land enjoying the gospel, and not in the region of the shadow of death: neither among Pagans, who have not the Bible,

nor Papists, who are forbid the use of it. Thou hast shewed unto us thy word and thy statutes, thy grace and covenant; thou hast not dealt so with many other nations. We bless thee for the gospel itself, and for thy Son, the Redeemer of lost sinners, therein revealed. May his name be unto us as ointment poured forth. Blessed be God who hath so loved the world as to send his only begotten Son into it, that the world through him might be saved. [We bless thee for his holy life, his meritorious death, his triumphant resurrection, his ascension to thy right hand, and the intercession which he there ever lives to make for us. Lord grant us an interest in him and in his great salvation.]

We bless thee for thy Spirit which thou hast sent to abide with thy church for ever, to convince of sin, to sanctify the heart, and to dwell in the souls of believers. O may that blessed Spirit take up his abode in our souls, to enlighten, to quicken, to sanctify and to comfort us! We bless thee for the appointment of a gospel-ministry in the church, as the means of converting sinners, and edifying the body of Christ; and for the

opportunities we have enjoyed for attending the ordinances of the gospel. Lord teach us to profit by them, and make thy word the savour of life unto life to our souls.

We would be particularly thankful that we were born of pious parents, or have been cast in the families of those professing the gospel, who were concerned to bring us up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We bless thee for their repeated instructions, faithful admonitions, seasonable corrections, holy examples and affectionate prayers. [We bless thee for all the helps we have had, public and private, for improving in useful knowledge, and especially the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal; and that we have still line upon line, and precept upon precept.] O our God, grant that all may not be in vain, and that we may not be, after all, cumberers of thy ground. Water all these means with thine heavenly influence, and make us fruitful in every good word and work

[We bless thee for the restraints of thy grace and providence; that we are not as vile and profane as many others. We

bless thee for the good impressions which thou hast made on our souls; and especially for any ground to hope that thou hast begun thy good work in any of us. Lord strengthen what thou hast wrought, grant us more evidence of it, and perform it to the day of Jesus Christ.]

Make us more thankful for all thy mercies, and help us not only to speak, but to live thy praise. We lament our past ingratitude. What unsuitable returns have we made for that goodness of thine which has followed us all our days! We earnestly implore thy pardoning mercy, through the great Mediator, and would as earnestly entreat thy quickening influence, that we may love thee more and serve thee better. O grant us the continued. supplies of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, that we may give all diligence to add to our faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly-kindness and charity. May these things not only be in us, but abound, that we may not be unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Help us to put on the whole armour of God, that we may stand against the wiles of the devil, and withstand in the evil

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