Page images
PDF
EPUB

WINTER.

O THOU God of nature and providence; manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast Thou made them all; and all are full of thy goodness. The welfare of thy creatures requires the severity of winter as well as the pleasures of spring. We adore thy hand in all. Thou givest snow like wool; Thou

scatterest the hoar frost like ashes. Thou sendest abroad thine ice-like morsels: who can stand before thy cold?

But we bless Thee for a house to shelter us; for raiment to cover us, for fuel to warm us; and for all the accommodations that render life, even at this inclement season, not only tolerable but full of comfort.

-Not more than others we deserve,

Yet God has given us more.May we be grateful; and may we be pitiful. May we reflect on the condition of those who are the victims of every kind of privation and distress and waste nothing-hoard nothing but hasten to be the ministers of mercy, and the disciples of Him who went about doing good.

O let the rich now deservedly prize their

[blocks in formation]

-WITH Thee is terrible majesty. Thou lookest on the earth, and it melteth; Thou touchest the mountains, and they smoke. Thou thunderest in the heavens, and all nature shudders at thy voice. How vain now is the help of man! Who can resist thy will! We feel ourselves to be nothing, less than nothing, and vanity. Our very houses are no protection now! O Thou, to whom belong the issues from death, defend our persons and our dwelling. May we always stand in awe of Thee, and sin not. May we know that this awful God is ours, our Father and our Friend; and may we have boldness in that day, when the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.

THANKSGIVINGS

FOR

PARTICULAR EVENTS.

FOR RAIN AFTER A LONG DROUGHT. | cious produce. O that men would praise the

-THOU hast never left thyself without witness, but hast been continually doing good, even to the unthankful and unworthy, in giving them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with joy and gladness. We acknowledge that the heavens over us might have been brass, and the earth under us iron. We have justly deserved the calamity; and thy power, without a miracle, could have inflicted it. But though Thou hast tried our patience, and awakened our fears, Thou hast not forgotten to be gracious. We praise Thee for sending us the seasonable and plentiful rain, by which Thou hast refreshed and revived the drooping fields, so that the earth promises to yield her increase.

Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful fieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

works to the children of men! For he satis

and truth in the promise-While the earth We have again witnessed thy faithfulness remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. May we learn to trust Thee in all thy engagements.

famine of bread, so we have no famine of And make us thankful that as we have no hearing the word of the Lord. With regard to the soul, as well as to the body, Thou

fillest us with the finest of the wheat.

FOR PEACE.

-O THOU that stillest the noise of the

FOR FAIR WEATHER AFTER MUCH seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult

RAIN.

O GOD, Thou art good, and doest good. Thou hast again surpassed our deserts, and been better to us than our fears. Thou hast caused the clear shining after rain; so that in the meadows the hay appeareth, and in the fields Thou art preparing of thy goodness for the poor. Thou preservest man and beast. May we feel our entire dependence upon Thee, and by prayer and praise give Thee the glory that is due unto thy holy name.

FOR A GOOD HARVEST. -AGAIN Thou hast crowned the year with thy goodness. The grain might have perished in the earth, or have failed of maturity for want of the showers and of the sunshine. But Thou wast pleased to bless the springing thereof; and we saw, first the blade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear. We hailed the valleys standing thick with corn, and heard the little hills rejoicing on every side. In due time the mower filled his hands, and the binder of sheaves his bosom; and the appointed weeks of harvest have been afforded us to gather in the pre

of the people; we bless Thee that Thou hast made peace in our borders, and called us to adore Thee, as the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.

We lament the evils of war, both natural and moral; and confess with shame, that ever since man became an apostate from Thee, he has been an enemy to his brother, and that from the death of Abel our earth has been a field of blood. O let thy word be speedily accomplished. Let the nations learn war no more, but beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; and only emulate each other in husbandry, and commerce, and science, and religion.

O Thou Prince of Peace, preside in every privy council. May all public teachers recommend peace. In private life, may we follow peace with all men; and cherish the principles and the dispositions which will prepare us for that world, where we shall enter into peace, and the sound of war will be heard no more.

FOR A SAFE RETURN FROM A JOURNEY.

-As the keeper of Israel Thou hast been

station.

with us, not only in the house, but by the newal of her strength, and her ability to apway. We might have been injured by wick-pear again in all the duties of her important ed and unreasonable men. We might have been left groaning under the pain of bruised limbs or fractured bones. Our lives might have been spilt like water on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; and the first tidings that reached our friends might have plunged them into anguish.

But all our bones can say, Who is a God like unto Thee? Thy secret too in our absence has been upon our tabernacle, and secured it from all evil. O that it may be the tabernacle of the righteous; and be ever filled, not only with the voice of rejoicing but of praise.

And be with us in all the future journey of life. Guide us by thy counsel. Uphold us by thy power; and supply all our wants, till we come to our Father's house in peace.

FOR RECOVERY FROM SICKNESS. -ALL our times are in thy hand. All diseases come at thy call, and go at thy bidding. Thou redeemest our life from destruction, and crownest us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. We bless Thee that Thou hast heard prayer, and commanded deliverance for our friend and thy servant, who has been under thine afflicting hand. He (or she) was brought low, but Thou hast helped him: Thou hast chastened him sore but not delivered him over unto death. May he not only live but declare the works of the Lord.

As Thou hast delivered his eyes from tears, his feet from falling, and his soul from death, may he daily inquire, What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me? and resolve to offer unto Thee the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and to call upon the name of the Lord.

Let the impressions produced by recent mercies be rendered as durable as they are lively. May she remember, and pay Thee the vows which her soul made when in trouble.

May the life spared, and the life given, be dear in thy sight and devoted to thy glory; and may every addition made to the world of creatures be found an accession to the church of the living God.

FOR THE RETURN OF A FRIEND FROM SEA.

-WHAT shall be done unto Thee, O thou Preserver of men? We offer to Thee the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to thy name, for thy goodness towards our friend and thy servant, whom Thou hast delivered from the dangers of the pitiless deep. Thou wast with him when trouble was nigh; and at thy command were the issues from death. Others have found a watery grave, till the sea shall give up her dead; but he has returned alive and in comfort. Many are weeping over the loss of those for whom they long anxiously waited; but we have embraced the desire of our eyes; and in the multitude of thy tender mercies we pay Thee the vows of renewed intercourse.

ACTS OF DEVOTION FOR THE TABLE.

BEFORE MEAT.

O God, the eyes of all thy creatures wait And may we ever remember that a recovery upon Thee, and Thou givest them their meat is only a reprieve: that the sentence which in due season. Bless to our use the bounties dooms us to the dust is only suspended; and of thy providence, by which Thou hast spread that at most, when a few years are come, we another table for us in the wilderness. shall go the way whence we shall not return. them refresh, nourish, and strengthen our May we therefore secure the one thing need-frail bodies, that we may be the better able ful, and live with eternity in view.

FOR SAFE DELIVERY IN CHILDBIRTH.

-WE bless Thee on the behalf of thine handmaid, who is now saying, I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplication. Thou hast been with her in the hour of pain and peril, and made her the joyful mother of a living and well-formed infant. Complete thy goodness by the re

Let

to serve and glorify Thee, through our Lord and Saviour. Amen. Or thus:

Forgive our sins, and sanctify to us the comforts with which we are now indulged. May we eat, and be satisfied, and praise the Lord, through the mediation of thy dear Son and our Redeemer. Amen.

AFTER MEAT.

WE adore Thee, O God, as the giver of every good and perfect gift. We bless Thee for the meat that perisheth, but above all for that meat which endureth to everlasting life.

Feed us and lift us up for ever, through our Lord and Saviour. Amen. Or thus:

What shall we render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards us? Let thy goodness lead us to repentance, induce us to pity and release the destitute, and constrain us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and

acceptable, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Or thus:

Add to the bounties of thy providence the better blessings of thy grace; and may we be found in the number of those that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God, for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.

END OF THE FÀMILY PRAYERS.

STANDARD EDITION

OF

THE WORKS

OF THE

REV. WILLIAM JAY.

We have just published THE WORKS OF THE REV. WILLIAM JAY, of Argyle Chapel, Bath, England, from a copy furnished us by the much esteemed author,all his works known in this country, and several which have not heretofore been presented to the American public, in 3 vols. 8vo. making about 2000 pages. The accompanying recommendations will show the high character they sustain, and commend them to your favour as they do to the religious of all denominations. We solicit your patronage.

The work will be found for sale at the principal Bookstores in the United States, and by country Merchants generally.

Respectfully,

PLASKITT & Co. 254 Market street, Baltimore.

RECOMMENDATIONS,

The Rev. WM. JAY may justly be esteemed as one of the most popular and useful religious writers of the present age. Portions of his works have, for many years, been well known to the readers of practical theology on both sides the Atlantic. His Sermons, without containing any profound discussions of the abstruse points of polemic divinity, are characterised by a faithful exposition of the doctrines, graces and duties of our common christianity-well sustained by happy quotations from the Scriptures, striking and beautiful illustrations, and powerful appeals to the conscience and the heart. His Lectures give a lovely picture of the new man" in Christ, under all the various circumstances in which he is presented to our contemplation;-and his Morning and Evening Exercises for the Closet furnish a most useful auxiliary to all who desire to maintain a close and humble walk with God. The stereotype edition of his entire works, by Messrs. Armstrong & Plaskitt, of this city, is beautifully executed, and, in my humble judgment, would form a valuable addition to any domestic library. J. P. K. HENSHAW, D. D. Ballimore, Nov. 16, 1832. Rector of St. Peter's Church.

MESSRS. ARMSTRONG & PLASKITT:

Permit me to acknowledge myself a debtor to you for your efforts in collecting, and your enterprize in publishing the entire works of the Rev. William Jay. I sincerely hope the volumes may meet the patronage to which they are eminently entitled, and prove the means of that extensive usefulness, for which, in my judgment, they are peculiarly calculated.

A cursory glance at the different productions of this author which you have presented to the public is sufficient to show that he has not written without aim, or thrown out his thoughts at random. Apart from those treatises which have a bearing upon

« PreviousContinue »