13. PRAYER FOR THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.

ETERNAL GOD! with deep humility and profound reverence would we draw nigh to thee, and engage in the duties of thy worship. Thou art the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and as Thou art unchangeable in thy nature and in thy perfections, Thou art the proper object of adoration in all ages of the world, and the proper object of confidence and trust through all our lives, and through every generation of mankind, as each in succession comes into the world to share thy goodness and to shew forth thy praise. If we trace thee in the ancient records of history, Thou art the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; Thou art Jehovah, the God of Israel. In the fulness of time Thou hast called the Gentile world to the knowledge of thee, and our earliest recollections tell us that Thou art the God of our fathers, who loved and served thee, and taught us to revere thy great and holy name. Time, which elapses without producing any change in thee, changes all other things. It sees one generation pass and another come. It sees life commence, advance to perfection, gradually decline, and at length sink in death. It witnesses events painful, distressing, anticipated or unexpected, afflicting the heart of man; and it scatters from its wings blessings which make the earth full of thy goodness, and give joy and gladness to the grateful heart. Through thy mercy we have lived to the

To

Man

close of another year. We have received thy bounty which has crowned it. We have had great cause to praise thy loving-kindness. some Thou hast opened new sources of happiness and joy. Beings have come into the world to exercise our tender sympathies, to increase our duties and our pleasures. Some Thou hast raised from beds of sickness, and valuable lives Thou hast spared, which were endangered by the attacks of alarming disease. Some Thou hast visited in thy providence with heavy afflictions and losses. goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets. The widow and the orphan claim the pity which they find in the breast of all who know they are liable themselves to suffer, and have learned to weep with those that weep. Nor is it alone in what we esteem the natural order of things that death invades our comforts and breaks the connexions of life. Those who appeared destined to follow us to the tomb, we are called to resign; and of how many may it be said-Thou hast shortened the days of their youth! Yet Thou art good, yet Thou art merciful. We should put our trust in thee. Thy designs are wise and benevolent, though. to us inscrutable. O grant us that faith which contemplates thee as Thou art revealed in the mission of Jesus, thy well-beloved Son. Give us those principles which will insure our safety from all the injurious effects of the circumstances of life; which will be our guard in prosperity from its snares;

our comfort and support in affliction under all the natural sorrow which it causes. May our dispositions be such, regulated by the teaching and the example of Jesus, that all things may work together for our good. May the discipline of life, combined with the direct operation of Christian truth, produce in us entire subjection to thy holy will. May all things conspire to impress upon our minds the value of true religion, and especially may our sufferings be sanctified to wean our affections from undue attachment to the world; teaching us that here we have no continuing city, that this is not our rest, that in heaven we have a better and more enduring substance. While our lives are prolonged, may we be useful to ourselves and others. We know not what lies before us, in the coming years, to be enjoyed or suffered. Save us alike from deceitful hopes and from foreboding fears. We do know that Thou art good, and that happy are all they who put their trust in thee. May we cherish no wish but what is in perfect accordance with thy will. May we refer all that concerns ourselves, our children, our friends, our country, the whole habitable globe and universal nature, to thee. Over all Thou rulest in majesty and power and glory, and none of thy works dost Thou disregard. Let time bear us to a joyful eternity, and the improvement of this life fit us for the enjoyment of a better. All we ask in the name of Jesus, through whom be all glory and honour to thee, now and for ever. Amen.

O THOU! that rulest over the kingdoms of the earth; in whose hands there is power and might! we adore thee our God and our King. We know that Thou art good and wise as Thou art allpowerful; and while none can withstand thee, we know that all thy creatures should put their trust in thee. Clouds and darkness are at times round about thee, but righteousness and judgment are the habitation of thy throne. Thy will is supreme, and none can stay thy hand; but thy will is always good and wise, and thy hand in mercy is always stretched out. If Thou punish, it is to correct; if Thou display thy judgments, it is that we may learn righteousness; if Thou send affliction, it is that we may be improved. The evils we have to endure are to remind us of the good we have to seek; the disappointment of our fondest hopes is to make us hope and trust in thee alone; the uncertainty and frailty of all that is of this life is to raise our thoughts to a better, and to fix our faith on those mansions in the skies prepared for them who love thee and serve thee. The sufferings and afflictions which it is hard to bear, have all a design consistent with thine overruling and benevolent providence which sends them. We would adore thee not only when blessings abound, when privi

leges are enjoyed, when our wishes are gratified, when Thou causest thy face to shine upon our path, but in all times and circumstances. We would devoutly contemplate thine essential character when thy ways are dark, mysterious, and past finding out. We would trace our sufferings as well as our enjoyments to thee, to thy holy will, to thy benevolent purpose; and we would assure ourselves that nothing happens to us by chance. Painful as are many of thy dispensations, may we be supremely anxious to derive the good they can afford: may we be instructed and improved by what we suffer. Let not despair prevent exertion to bear our evils and to discharge our duties. Let not distrust cause us to neglect thee, and to forsake thy service. Let not our heavy losses make us forget our past blessings, our remaining causes of thankfulness and praise. When that which we love is removed, may we reflect how long it has been continued; may we consider all the circumstances which mercifully mitigate the evil we have to endure; and may Christian faith, more perfectly and more rapidly than time and events can, teach us to bear our loss with resignation; to say to thee, Thou givest and Thou takest away, and blessed be thy holy name. Amidst the uncertainty of all things connected with this life, exposed as we are to innumerable troubles which we cannot escape, may the value and importance of true religion incline us more and more to devote ourselves entirely to its guidance